Communication between a UE and wirelessly interconnected base stations

A method for supporting concurrent communication between a user equipment (UE) and a group of base stations including a first base station and the second base station, the method implemented in the second base station and comprising:

• receiving, from the first base station via a radio interface, a configuration for concurrent communication between the UE and the group of base stations including an indication of a time-frequency resource for a second subsequent downlink transmission to be transmitted from the second base station jointly with a first subsequent downlink transmission from the first base station to the UE;
• configuring, in accordance with the configuration, the second base station to operate in an Active Coordination Set (ACS) with the first base station, the ACS configured to provide joint transmission and/or joint reception to the UE;
• configuring the second base station to operate as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)-node with the first base station as a corresponding IAB-donor;
• and
• communicating, in accordance with the configuration, data between the first base station and the UE, including:
• communicating the data with the first base station via the radio interface, and
• communicating the data with the UE directly over a radio link between the second base station and the UE.

An apparatus in a first base station for communicating with a user equipment (UE) via the first base station and a second base station, comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor configured to:
• transmit, via a wireless backhaul link to the second base station, a configuration for concurrent communication between the UE and a group of base stations including the first base station and the second base station, the configuration directing the second base station to operate in an Active Coordination Set (ACS) with the first base station, the ACS configured to provide joint transmission and/or joint reception to the UE, and the configuration indicating a time-frequency resource for a second subsequent downlink transmission from the second base station to the UE;
• configure the first base station to operate as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)-donor and the second base station to operate as an IAB-node;
• and
• communicate data with the UE (i) directly over a radio interface using the time-frequency resource, and (ii) over the wireless backhaul link and via the second base station.

An apparatus for supporting concurrent communication between a user equipment (UE) and a group of base stations including a first base station and the second base station, the apparatus implemented in the second base station and comprising:

• a transceiver;
• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the processor configured to:
• receive, from the first base station via a radio interface, a configuration for concurrent communication between the UE and the group of base stations including an indication of a time-frequency resource for a second subsequent downlink transmission to be transmitted from the second base station jointly with a first subsequent downlink transmission from the first base station to the UE;
• configure, in accordance with the configuration, the second base station to operate in an Active Coordination Set (ACS) with the first base station, the ACS configured to provide joint transmission and/or joint reception to the UE;
• configure the second base station to operate as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB)-node with the first base station as an IAB-donor;
• and
• communicate, in accordance with the configuration, data between the first base station and the UE, including to:
• communicate the data with the first base station via the radio interface, and
• communicate the data with the UE directly over a radio link between the second base station and the UE.