NR sidelink intra-cell relay measurement

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

receive, from a source relay, a candidate relay configuration, the candidate relay configuration including information of candidate relays and a relay measurement configuration comprising a measurement gap configuration indicating that a measurement gap is utilized for reference signals from candidate relays that are not within a bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay;

measure a reference signal of the source relay and each of the candidate relays based on the candidate relay configuration;

transmit, to the source relay, a measurement report of the reference signal of a subset of candidate relays;

establish a connection with the subset of candidate relays; and

receive, from the source relay, a relay switch command to switch to a target relay from the subset of candidate relays.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap configuration is not provided for the reference signals from the candidate relays having a same sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as the source relay.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

tune away from the bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay to measure a reference signal from at least one candidate relay that is not within the bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement gap is common for the reference signals from the candidate relays with a same numerology.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

switch to the target relay as indicated in the relay switch command.

7. An apparatus for wireless communication at a source relay, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a candidate relay configuration, the candidate relay configuration including information of candidate relays and a relay measurement configuration comprising a measurement gap configuration indicating that a measurement gap is utilized for reference signals from candidate relays that are not within a bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay;

receive, from the UE, a measurement report of a subset of candidate relays; and

transmit, to the UE, a relay switch command to switch to a target relay from the subset of candidate relays.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit the measurement report to a base station.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the measurement gap configuration is not provided for the reference signals from the candidate relays having a same sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as the source relay.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive, from a base station, the candidate relay configuration, wherein the base station determines a list of candidates relays for the candidate relay configuration.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine a list of candidate relays for the candidate relay configuration.

13. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive, from a base station, the relay switch command.

14. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit, to a base station, the measurement report received from the UE; and

receive, from the base station, an indication of the target relay from the subset of candidate relays.

15. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

transmit, to a source relay, a candidate relay configuration including information of candidate relays and a relay measurement configuration comprising a measurement gap configuration indicating that a measurement gap is utilized for reference signals from candidate relays that are not within a bandwidth configured for communication between a user equipment (UE) and the source relay;

receive, from the source relay, a measurement report of reference signals of a subset of candidate relays;

select a target relay from the subset of candidate relays based on the measurement report; and

transmit, to the source relay, a relay switch command for the UE to switch to the target relay.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the measurement gap configuration indicates that the measurement gap is not utilized for the reference signals from the candidate relays having a same sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as the source relay.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the measurement gap configuration indicates that the measurement gap is utilized for the reference signals from the candidate relays that are not within the bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein a numerology used for the measurement gap is based on a numerology of a physical channel or bandwidth associated with the source relay.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein a numerology used for the measurement gap is based on a numerology of a reference channel associated with at least one of the candidate relays.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the measurement gap is common for the reference signals from the candidate relays with a same numerology.

22. A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising:

receiving, from a source relay, a candidate relay configuration, the candidate relay configuration including information of candidate relays and a relay measurement configuration comprising a measurement gap configuration indicating that a measurement gap is utilized for reference signals from candidate relays that are not within a bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay;

measuring a reference signal of the source relay and each of the candidate relays based on the candidate relay configuration;

transmitting, to the source relay, a measurement report of the reference signal of a subset of candidate relays;

establishing a connection with a subset of candidate relays; and

receiving, from the source relay, a relay switch command to switch to a target relay from the subset of candidate relays.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the measurement gap configuration is not provided for the reference signals from the candidate relays having a same sub-carrier spacing (SCS) as the source relay.

24. The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

tuning away from the bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and source relay to measure a reference signal from at least one candidate relay that is not within the bandwidth configured for communication between the UE and the source relay.

25. The method of claim 22 , wherein the measurement gap is common for the reference signals from the candidate relays with a same numerology.

26. The method of claim 22 , further comprising:

switching to the target relay as indicated in the relay switch command.

27. The method of claim 22 , wherein the target relay information is indicated in the relay switch command.