Apparatus and method for relay service in wireless communication system

A method for a relay service at a Relay Station (RS) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• confirming a frame structure to be used to provide a relay service by taking into account of the number of hops to a Base Station (BS);
• transmitting, at an odd-hop RS, a signal to a Mobile Station (MS) or a lower even-hop RS over a first zone of a DownLink (DL) subframe and receiving a signal from an upper node over a second zone according to the confirmed frame structure;
• receiving, at the odd-hop RS, a signal from an MS or a lower even-hop RS over a first zone of an UpLink (UL) subframe and transmitting a signal to an upper node over a second zone;
• receiving, at an even-hop RS, a signal from an upper node over a first zone of a DL subframe and transmitting a signal to an MS or a lower odd-hop RS over a second zone according to the confirmed frame structure;
• and
• transmitting, at the even-hop RS, a signal to an upper node over a first zone of the UL subframe and receiving a signal from the MS or the lower odd-hop RS over a second zone.

A method for a relay service at a Base Station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• confirming frame structures to be used for Relay Stations (RSs) to provide the relay service by taking into account of the number of hops of at least one RS;
• allocating resources for the RSs by taking into account the frame structures of the RSs;
• transmitting resource allocation information to the RSs;
• and
• communicating with a Mobile Station (MS) or the RS according to the resource allocation information.

An apparatus for a relay service at a Relay Station (RS) in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• a scheduler for controlling transmission and reception of signals according to a frame structure determined based on the number of hops to a Base Station (BS);
• a receiver for, in an odd-hop RS, receiving a signal from an upper node over a second zone of a DownLink (DL) subframe and receiving a signal from a Mobile Station (MS) or a lower even-hop RS over a first zone of an UpLink (UL) subframe under control of the scheduler, and, in an even-hop RS, receiving a signal from an upper node over a first zone of the DL subframe and receiving a signal from the MS or a lower odd-hop RS over a second zone of the UL subframe under the control of the scheduler;
• and
• a transmitter for, in the odd-hop RS, transmitting a signal to the MS or the lower even-hop RS over the first zone of the DL subframe and transmitting a signal to the upper node over the second zone of the UL subframe under the control of the scheduler, and, in the even-hop RS, transmitting a signal to the MS or the lower odd-hop RS over the second zone of the DL subframe and transmitting a signal to the upper node over the first zone of the UL subframe under the control of the scheduler.

An apparatus for a relay service at a Base Station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the apparatus comprising:

• a frame determiner for confirming frame structures to be used for Relay Stations (RSs) to provide the relay service by taking into account of the number of hops of at least one RS;
• a scheduler for allocating resources for the RSs by taking into account the frame structures of the RSs;
• a transmitter for transmitting resource allocation information to the RSs, and sending a signal to a Mobile Station (MS) or an RS according to the resource allocation information;
• and
• a receiver for receiving a signal from the MS or the RS according to the resource allocation information.