System and method for managing communication routing within a wireless multi-hop network

A wireless multi-hop network comprising:

• a base station;
• a subscriber station communicatively coupled to the base station through a communication link having a signal quality and a timing offset;
• and
• one or more relay stations communicatively coupled between the subscriber station and the base station through each of a relay station communication link having an associated relay station signal quality and an associated relay station timing offset,
• the base station operated to:
• identify a best communication route from the subscriber station to the base station using the signal quality, the timing offset, each of the associated relay station signal qualities, and each of the associate relay station timing offsets;
• and
• transmit from the base station to the subscriber station a timing correction value associated with the identified best communication route.

A method for performing at least one of an initial ranging and a periodic ranging, the method comprising:

• establishing a communication link between a subscriber station and a base station;
• determining a base station signal quality and a base station timing offset from the subscriber station to the base station;
• transmitting from the base station to one or more relay stations, pseudo random codes to be used for at least one of the initial ranging and the periodic ranging
• receiving by the base station from each of the one or more relay stations an associated relay station signal quality and an associated relay station timing offset from the subscriber station to the base station through each of the one or more relay stations;
• identifying by the base station a best communication route from the subscriber station to the base station using the base station signal quality, the base station timing offset, each of the associated relay station signal qualities, and each of the associate relay station timing offsets;
• and
• transmitting from the base station to the subscriber station a timing correction value associated with the identified best communication route.