Intelligent allocation of wireless resources between access link and relay link

A donor base station comprising:

• a wireless communication module for engaging in access communication with a first extent of user equipment devices (UEs) over a donor access link and for engaging in relay backhaul communication with a relay base station over a relay backhaul link, wherein the relay base station in turn engages in access communication with a second extent of UEs over a relay access link;
• a processing unit;
• data storage;
• and
• program logic stored in the data storage and executable by the processing unit to manage allocation of wireless communication resources between the donor access link, the relay access link, and the relay backhaul link, wherein managing allocation of the wireless communication resources between the donor access link, the relay access link, and the relay backhaul link comprises carrying out functions including (i) determining a remaining battery level of one or more UEs of the first extent of UEs, the second extent of UEs, or both, (ii) based at least on the determined remaining battery level of each of the one or more UEs, establishing an allocation of the wireless communication resources between the donor access link, the relay access link, and the backhaul link, and (iii) causing the relay base station to configure the relay backhaul link and the relay access link based on the established allocation of the wireless communication resources.

In a wireless communication system in which a donor base station engages in access communication with a first extent of user equipment devices (UEs) over a donor access link and engages in relay backhaul communication with a relay base station over a relay backhaul link, and the relay base station in turn engages in access communication with a second extent of UEs over a relay access link, a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a processing unit to carry out functions comprising:

• determining a remaining battery level of one or more UEs of the first extent of UEs, the second extent of UEs, or both;
• based at least on the determined remaining battery level of each of the one or more UEs, establishing an allocation of wireless communication resources between the donor access link, the relay access link, and the relay backhaul link;
• and
• responsive to establishing the allocation of the wireless communication resources, configuring the donor access link, the relay access link, and the relay backhaul link based on the established allocation of the wireless communication resources.