BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods of managing a network topology including integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of a continuous mobile broadband evolution promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with Internet of Things (IoT)), and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. There exists a need for further improvements in 5G NR technology. These improvements may also be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable medium for determining a location of an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. The method may include receiving a first indication, a second indication, or both. The first indication indicates a first capability of a first integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node to provide a T_delta to a child node of the first IAB node to enable the child node of the first IAB node to synchronize with the first IAB node. The second indication indicates a second capability of the first IAB node to synchronize with a parent node of the first IAB node based on a T_delta received by the first IAB node. T_delta refers to a cell-specific component of a time difference between a distributed unit transmission of a signal from the first IAB node and a reception of the signal at the child node of the first IAB node. The method may include determining a positive result or a negative result for each of the first capability and the second capability based on the first indication, the second indication, or both, wherein the determining comprises determining a negative result when no indication is received. The method may include determining a location of the first IAB node within a network topology based on the first capability and the second capability.

The disclosure also provides an apparatus (e.g., a base station) including a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the above method, an apparatus including means for performing the above method, and a computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the above method.

In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer readable medium for synchronizing an IAB node. The method may include transmitting, from a first integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node to second node, a first indication, a second indication, or both. The first indication indicates a first capability of the first IAB node to provide a T_delta to a child node of the first IAB node. The second indication indicates a second capability of the first IAB node to synchronize with a parent node based on a T_delta received by the first IAB node. T_delta refers to a cell-specific component of a time difference between a distributed unit transmission of a signal from the first IAB node and a reception of the signal at the child node of the first IAB node. The method may include determining a location of the first IAB node within a network topology based on the first capability and the second capability. The method may include synchronizing the first IAB node with at least one of a parent node or a child node over-the-air based on the location of the first IAB node.

The disclosure also provides an apparatus (e.g., a base station) including a memory storing computer-executable instructions and at least one processor configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to perform the above method, an apparatus including means for performing the above method, and a computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for performing the above method.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or more aspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspects may be employed, and this description is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents.

