With respect to the relay node’s usage of spectrum, its operation can be divided into inband and outband types.
Inband: An LTE relay node is said to be "Inband" if the link between the base station and the relay node are on the same carrier frequency as the link between the LTE relay node and the user equipment, UE, i.e. the BS-RN link and the BS-UE link are on the same carrier frequency.
Outband: For Outband LTE relay nodes, RNs, the BS-RN link operates of a different carrier frequency to that of the RN-UE link.