Managing allocation of resources to a relay-UE based on a determination that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a processor to cause a base station to perform operations comprising:

serving a relay user equipment device (relay-UE) that provides wireless backhaul connectivity for a relay base station (relay-BS);

making a determination of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment;

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE using a first extent of air interface resources; and

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE using a second extent of air interface resources that is greater than the first extent of air interface resources.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the relay-UE, a message indicative of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, wherein making the determination is based at least on the received message.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 ,

wherein the received message being indicative of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment comprises the received message specifying an altitude of the relay-UE, and

wherein making the determination based at least on the received message comprises making the determination based at least on the specified altitude of the relay-UE.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein making the determination based on the specified altitude of the relay-UE comprises:

determining whether the specified altitude of the relay-UE is threshold low; and

based on the determining of whether the specified altitude of the relay-UE is threshold low, determining whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a terrestrial location of the relay-UE,

wherein making the determination of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment further comprises making the determination based at least on both the specified altitude of the relay-UE and the determined terrestrial location of the relay-UE.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a first scheduling priority level, wherein the first scheduling priority level defines a first priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a second scheduling priority level, wherein the second scheduling priority level defines a second priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE, and wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a scheduling priority level that is higher than a threshold scheduling priority level.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein a scheduling priority level is assigned to the relay-UE, and

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises, (i) based at least on the determination that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, determining an increase in the scheduling priority level, and (ii) increasing, for the relay-UE, the scheduling priority level by the determined increase.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

before making the determination, assigning a first scheduling priority level to the relay-UE,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a second scheduling priority level that is higher than the first scheduling priority level.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a first quantity of air interface resources per unit time, and

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a second quantity of air interface resources per unit time that is greater than the first quantity of air interface resources.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a quantity of air interface resources per unit time that is greater than a threshold quantity of air interface resources.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 ,

wherein a quantity of air interface resource is provided to the relay-UE, and

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises, (i) based at least on the determination that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, determining an increase in the quantity of air interface resources, and (ii) increasing, for the relay-UE, the quantity of air interface resources by the determined increase.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise:

before making the determination, providing to the relay-UE a first quantity of air interface resources,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a second quantity of air interface resources that is greater than the first quantity of air interface resources.

14. A base station comprising:

an antenna structure configured to provide an air interface through which the base station serves one or more user equipment devices (UEs); and

a controller configured to cause the base station to carry out operations including:

serving a relay-UE over the air interface, wherein the relay-UE provides wireless backhaul connectivity for a relay base station (relay-BS);

making a determination of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment;

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE using a first extent of air interface resources; and

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE using a second extent of air interface resources that is greater than the first extent of air interface resources.

15. The base station of claim 14 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a first scheduling priority level, wherein the first scheduling priority level defines a first priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a second scheduling priority level, wherein the second scheduling priority level defines a second priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE, and wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority.

16. The base station of claim 14 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a first quantity of air interface per unit time, and

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a second quantity of air interface resources per unit time that is greater than the first quantity of air interface resources.

17. A method comprising:

serving, by a base station, a relay user equipment device (relay-UE) that provides wireless backhaul connectivity for a relay base station (relay-BS);

making a determination, by the base station, of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment;

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE, by the base station, using a first extent of air interface resources; and

if the determination is that the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, then, responsive to making the determination, serving the relay-UE, by the base station, using a second extent of air interface resources that is greater than the first extent of air interface resources.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

receiving, by the base station from the relay-UE, a message indicative of whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment, wherein the received message being indicative whether the relay-UE is positioned within an outdoor environment or whether the relay-UE is positioned within an indoor environment comprises the received message specifying an altitude of the relay-UE, and wherein making the determination comprises making the determination based at least on the specified altitude of the relay-UE.

19. The method of claim 17 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a first scheduling priority level, wherein the first scheduling priority level defines a first priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises assigning to the relay-UE a second scheduling priority level, wherein the second scheduling priority level defines a second priority with which the base station uses air interface resources to transmit data between the base station and the relay-UE, and wherein the second priority is higher than the first priority.

20. The method of claim 17 ,

wherein serving the relay-UE using the first extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a first quantity of air interface per unit time, and

wherein serving the relay-UE using the second extent of air interface resources comprises providing to the relay-UE a second quantity of air interface resources per unit time that is greater than the first quantity of air interface resources.