Mapping information for integrated access and backhaul

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12520188-B2
Application number	US-202017625259-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2020
Priority date	Jul 9, 2019
Publication date	Jan 6, 2026
Grant date	Jan 6, 2026

Abstract

Mapping Information for Integrated Access and BackhaulEmbodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatus for providing IAB mapping information. A method performed by CU-CP of a base station configured as a donor base station for one or more IAB nodes comprises transmitting a first message to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in a central unit user plane, CU-UP, of the base station, wherein the first message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control, BH RLC, channel.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A method performed by central unit control plane (CU-CP) of a base station for providing Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) mapping information, wherein the base station is configured as a donor base station for one or more IAB nodes, the method comprising:
transmitting, to a central unit user plane (CU-UP) of the base station, a first message to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in the CU-UP, wherein the first message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel, wherein the mapping information comprises an indication of whether the first bearer is served by an IAB node.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping information comprises a Flow Label value.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping information comprises a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping information is associated with the BH RLC channel.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping information maps the first bearer to the BH RLC one-to-one.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
transmitting a second message to setup or modify a second bearer context for a second bearer in the CU-UP, wherein the second message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for mapping the second bearer to the BH RLC channel.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping information comprises an indication of whether the first bearer is to be mapped one-to-one to the BH RLC link.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first message is an E1 Application Protocol (AP) bearer context setup request, or a bearer context modification request.

9 . A method performed by central unit user plane (CU-UP) of a base station for providing Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) mapping information, wherein the base station is configured as a donor base station for one or more IAB nodes, the method comprising:
receiving a first message from a central unit control plane (CU-CP) of the base station to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in a central unit user plane (CU-UP) of the base station; obtaining mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel; and based on the mapping information, determining a field value for the first bearer wherein the field value maps the first bearer to the BH RLC.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of obtaining comprises obtaining the mapping information from an information element in the first message.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the mapping information comprises the field value as a Flow Label value.

12 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mapping information comprises the field value as a differentiated services code point (DSCP) value.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mapping information is associated with the BH RLC channel.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving a second message from the CU-CP to setup or modify a second bearer context for a second bearer in the CU-UP, wherein the second message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for mapping the second bearer to the BH RLC channel.

15 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mapping information comprises an indication of whether the first bearer is to be mapped one-to-one to the BH RLC link, and wherein the method further comprises:
assigning the field value associated with the BH RLC channel to the first bearer based on the indication.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the method comprises using a Flow Label value or a DSCP value for the field value, depending on the indication.

17 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the mapping information indicates whether the first bearer is served by an IAB node.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the mapping information is obtained by determining whether the IP Address of a F1-U tunnel for the first bearer has been configured as an IAB node IP address.

19 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
responsive to the first bearer being served by an IAB node, determining whether the first bearer meets a criteria for one-to-one mapping; responsive to the first bearer meeting the criteria, assigning the field value associated with the BH RLC channel to the first bearer with a one-to-one mapping; and responsive to the first bearer not meeting the criteria, assigning the field value associated with the BH RLC channel to the first bearer with an N-to-one mapping.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the criteria comprise a quality of service (QOS) criteria.

21 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
transmitting the field value to a transport layer for inclusion in a header of user plane packets for the first bearer.

22 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the first message is an E1 Application Protocol (AP) bearer context setup request or a bearer context modification request.

23 . A method performed by a base station for providing Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) mapping information, wherein the base station is configured as a donor base station for one or more IAB nodes, the method comprising:
performing, by a central unit control plane (CU-CP) of the base station, the step of transmitting a first message to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in a central unit user plane (CU-UP) of the base station, wherein the first message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel; performing, by the CU-UP of the base station, the steps of:
receiving the first message from the CU-CP of the base station to setup or modify the first bearer context for the first bearer in the CU-UP of the base station;
obtaining mapping information for use in determining the mapping of the first bearer to the BH RLC channel; and
based on the mapping information, determining a field value for the first bearer wherein the field value maps the first bearer to the BH RLC.

24 . A base station for providing Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) mapping information, the base station being configured as a donor base station for one or more IAB nodes, comprising:
processing circuitry configured to cause a central unit control plane (CU-CP) of the base station to transmit, to a central unit user plane (CU-UP) of the base station, a first message to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in the CU-UP, wherein the first message comprises an information element indicating mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the base station;
wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the CU-UP to:
receive the first message from the central unit control plane (CU-CP) of the base station to setup or modify a first bearer context for a first bearer in the CU-UP of the base station;
obtain mapping information for use in determining a mapping of the first bearer to a backhaul radio link control (BH RLC) channel; and
based on the mapping information, det

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Barac Filip
• Muller Julien
• Teyeb Oumer
• Mildh Gunnar

Classifications

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W28/0236

  radio quality, e.g. interference, losses or delay · CPC title

• H04W88/085

  Access point devices with remote components · CPC title

• H04W84/047

  using dedicated repeater stations · CPC title

• H04W92/20

  between access points · CPC title