Apparatus and method for congestion handling in radio access network

A donor node in a Radio Access Network (RAN), comprising:

• a radio frequency (RF) interface configured to receive a downlink congestion indication from a relay node in the RAN when a downlink congestion occurs at the relay node, wherein the downlink congestion indication identifies a User Equipment (UE), a UE bearer, or a backhaul Radio Link Control (RLC) channel affected by the downlink congestion, wherein the downlink congestion indication comprises at least one of UE bearer specific ID, UE specific ID, or Route ID, wherein the downlink congestion indication is generated in accordance with an adaptation layer protocol, wherein the adaptation layer protocol is below an RLC layer;
• and
• processing circuitry coupled with the RF interface, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
• alter prioritization of the UE, the UE bearer, or the backhaul RLC channel to reduce a downlink data rate for the UE, the UE bearer, or the backhaul RLC channel based on the downlink congestion indication;
• and
• limit downlink data for the UE, the UE bearer, or the backhaul RLC channel affected by the downlink congestion based on the downlink congestion indication.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a relay node in a Radio Access Network (RAN), causing the one or more processors to:

• determine whether an uplink congestion occurs at the relay node;
• generate an uplink congestion indication to identify a user equipment (UE) or a UE bearer or a backhaul Radio Link Control (RLC) channel affected by the uplink congestion, wherein the uplink congestion indication comprises at least one of UE bearer specific ID, UE specific ID, or Route ID;
• and
• transmit the uplink congestion indication to a serving node in the RAN that serves the UE or the UE bearer or the backhaul RLC channel identified in the uplink congestion indication to alter prioritization of the UE, the UE bearer, or the backhaul RLC channel to reduce an uplink data rate for the UE, the UE bearer, or the backhaul RLC channel to transmit uplink data based on the uplink congestion indication, wherein the uplink congestion indication is transmitted in accordance with an adaptation layer protocol, wherein the adaptation layer protocol is below an RLC layer.