IPV6 address management in iab system

1. A communication method implemented at a donor central unit in an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, system, comprising:

by the donor central unit, obtaining an Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6, prefix for an IAB node in the IAB system, the prefix being associated with the donor central unit or a donor distributed unit in the IAB system;

by the donor central unit, determining an interface identity for the IAB node; and

by the donor central unit, generating, based on the Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6, prefix and the interface identity, an IPv6 address for the IAB node for communication between the donor central unit and the IAB node.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting, to the IAB node via the donor distributed unit, a first message comprising the IPv6 prefix.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first message comprises at least one of:

an IPv6 prefix of the donor distributed unit; and an IPv6 prefix of the donor central unit controlling the operations of the donor distributed unit.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first message further comprises the information about the interface identity.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first message is a unicast radio resource control, RRC, message or a broadcast RRC message.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the interface identity for the IAB node comprises at least one of allocating the interface identity uniquely to the donor central unit; and generating the interface identity based on knowledge of the IAB node.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting a second message comprising the information about the interface identity to the IAB node via the donor distributed unit.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the second message is a unicast radio resource control, RRC, message or a broadcast RRC message.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: configuring, based on the IPv6 address, at least one of the donor distributed unit and a further IAB node, such that an adaptation layer of the at least one of the donor distributed unit and the further IAB node is configured for routing a message or a packet between the donor central unit and the IAB node.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the IPv6 prefix comprises:

receiving, from the donor distributed unit, a third message comprising an IPv6 prefix of the donor distributed unit, the third message being a front-haul application protocol, F1AP, message.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the IPv6 prefix comprises:

obtaining a pre-configured IPv6 prefix of the donor distributed unit.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 1 .

13. A communication method implemented at an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node in an IAB system, comprising:

by the IAB node, receiving, from a donor central unit in the IAB system via a donor distributed unit in the IAB system, an Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6, prefix and information about an interface identity, the prefix being associated with the donor distributed unit or the donor central unit; and

by the IAB node, generating, based on the IPv6 prefix and the information about the interface identity, an IPv6 address for the IAB node for communication between the donor central unit and the IAB node.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving the IPv6 prefix and the information about interface identity comprises: receiving the IPv6 prefix in a first message, the first message being a unicast radio resource control, RRC, message or a broadcast RRC message; and receiving the information about interface identity in a second message, the second message being a unicast radio resource control, RRC, message or a broadcast RRC message.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving the IPv6 prefix and the information about interface identity comprises: receiving the IPv6 prefix and the information about interface identity in a first message, the first message being a unicast radio resource control, RRC, message or a broadcast RRC message.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising: in response to the information indicating that the interface identity is allocated by the donor central unit, extracting the interface identity from the information about the interface identity; and in response to the information indicating that the interface identity is generated by the donor central unit based on knowledge of the IAB node, generating the interface identity based on the same knowledge of the IAB node.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 13 .

18. A donor central unit device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the donor central unit device to perform at least:

obtain an Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6, prefix for an integrated access and backhaul, IAB, node in an IAB system, the prefix being associated with the donor central unit or a donor distributed unit in the IAB system;

determine an interface identity for the IAB node; and

generate, based on the Internet Protocol Version 6, IPv6, prefix and the interface identity, an IPv6 address for the IAB node for communication between the donor central unit and the IAB node; and

cause the device to transmit, to the IAB node via the donor distributed unit, a first message comprising the IPv6 prefix.

19. A device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the device to perform at least the method of claim 13 .