Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to methods and apparatus for discovering a controller function for wireless backhaul using cellular radio access technology (RAT) such as communications systems operating according to new radio (NR) technologies. For example, such a method may include connecting to a parent relay that provides connectivity to a controller function (CF) of a network, receiving, from the parent relay, information regarding at least one of: the CF or a radio access network (RAN) area covered by the CF, obtaining an identifier of the CF using the information, and connecting to the CF using the identifier.