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Due to the rapid densification of small cells in 5G and beyond cellular networks, deploying wired high-bandwidth connections to every small cell base station (BS) is difficult, particularly in older metropolitan areas where infrastructure for fiber deployment is lacking. For this reason, mmWave wireless backhaul has been proposed as a cost-effective and flexible alternative that has the potential to support the high data rates needed to accommodate backhaul traffic demands. To address the robustness of such networks, we investigate a novel relay-assisted backhaul architecture, where a number of small-cell BSs and relays are deployed, e.g. on the lampposts of urban streets. In this scenario, the interconnected logical links constitute a mesh network, which offers opportunities for both link-level and network-level reconfiguration to overcome blockages and/or node failures. We present two joint link-network level …