MeshABS: mesh-based scheduling scheme for 6G IAB networks

The deployment of base stations (BSs) in 6G will be much denser and more flexible. Thus, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networking has been widely studied in 6G. Existing IAB networking is based on the directed-acyclic graph (DAG) architecture. In this architecture, two neighboring IAB nodes have a fixed parent-to-child relation, which highly limits the flexibility of link scheduling. In this paper, a mesh-based scheduling scheme (MeshABS) is designed to eliminate the limits of the DAG scheme. The separated DU-MT functions in the control plane are replaced by one FU function and a configurable relation for two neighboring IAB nodes. A joint scheduling algorithm for mesh-based IAB (JointMIAB) is developed to conduct link scheduling, mode configuration, and routing for each IAB node jointly. The max-min fairness on throughput among all IAB nodes is achieved. Simulation results show that MeshABS can improve the throughput by 4.1%-73.3%, and compared to existing schemes, MeshABS substantially reduces end-to-end delay.