Method and apparatus for two-hop link communication in wireless communication network

1. A two-hop link transmission method of a transmission terminal in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

determining a relay terminal among neighbor terminals;

establishing a two-hop link with a recipient terminal via the relay terminal;

allocating a multi-hop connection identifier (MCID) for the two-hop link;

mapping data to a transmission unit identified by the MCID;

determining whether an entire data transmission is possible in a current traffic slot;

indicating, if the entire data transmission is possible, data transmission is complete;

generating, if the entire data transmission is impossible, a more data indicator;

transmitting the more data indicator to the recipient terminal, the more data indicator being limited in transmission to a predetermined number of times; and

transmitting a transmission request signal at a signal strength equal to or greater than a predetermined level to the relay terminal,

wherein whether a data relay is possible is determined by the relay terminal,

wherein the determining of whether the data relay is possible is based on a comparison result between the signal strength from the transmission terminal and a signal interference strength on other links having higher priorities, and

wherein the relay terminal processes a link having the MCID with highest priority first in a current traffic slot among plural links to be processed.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving at least one terminal search signal including identity information of a neighbor terminal;

generating a neighbor terminal list based on the at least one terminal search signal; and

determining a presence of the recipient terminal based on the neighbor terminal list.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining of the relay terminal comprises:

broadcasting a first message including at least one of a transmission terminal identifier, a recipient terminal identifier, a service type, a quality of data to be transmitted, or a relay time; and

determining the relay terminal to transmit a second message in response to the first message.

4. The method of claim 3 ,

wherein the first message is received by the relay terminal, and

wherein the determining of whether the relay of the data is possible comprises:

determining whether a position of the relay terminal and communication environment between the transmission terminal and the recipient terminal are appropriate for data relay, and

determining whether the relay terminal is capable of supporting a transmission relay between the transmission terminal and the recipient terminal.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the MCID for the two-hop link with the recipient terminal; and

receiving a third message including the MCID determined by the recipient terminal,

wherein the determining of the MCID comprises:

receiving information on connection identifiers (CIDs) available at both the transmission and relay terminals from the relay terminal, and

determining the MCID based on the CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals and CID available at the recipient terminal.

6. The method of claim 5 ,

wherein the determination of the MCID further comprises:

receiving a fourth message including information on the CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals from the relay terminal,

comparing the CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals with a CID available at the recipient terminal, and

determining a CID that matches the MCID.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the MCID is determined among connection identifiers (CIDs) available at all of the transmission, relay, and recipient terminals.

8. A transmission terminal performing two-hop transmission in a wireless communication system, the terminal comprising:

a memory configured to store instructions therein;

a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; and

at least one processor, upon execution of the instructions, configured to:

determine a relay terminal among neighbor terminals,

establish a two-hop link with a recipient terminal via the relay terminal,

allocate a multi-hop connection identifier (MCID) for the two-hop link,

map data to a transmission unit identified by the MCID,

determine whether an entire data transmission is possible in a current traffic slot,

indicate, if the entire data transmission is possible, data transmission is complete,

generate, if the entire data transmission is impossible, a more data indicator,

transmit the more data indicator to the recipient terminal, the more data indicator being limited in transmission to a predetermined number of times, and

transmit a transmission request signal at a signal strength equal to or greater than a predetermined level to the relay terminal,

wherein whether a data relay is possible is determined by the relay terminal,

wherein the determining of whether the data relay is possible is based on a comparison result between the signal strength from the transmission terminal and a signal interference strength on other links having higher priorities, and

wherein the relay terminal processes a link having the MCID with highest priority first in a current traffic slot among plural links to be processed.

9. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive at least one terminal search signal including identity information of a neighbor terminal,

generate a neighbor terminal list based on the at least one terminal search signal, and

determine a presence of the recipient terminal based on the neighbor terminal list.

10. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

broadcast a first message including at least one of a transmission terminal identifier, a recipient terminal identifier, a service type of data to be transmitted, a quality of data to be transmitted, or a relay time, and

determine the relay terminal to transmit a second message in response to the first message.

11. The terminal of claim 10 ,

wherein the first message is received by the relay terminal, and

wherein, to determine whether the relay of the data is possible, whether a position of the relay terminal and a communication environment between the transmission terminal and the recipient terminal are appropriate for data relay is determined, and whether the relay terminal is capable of supporting a transmission relay between the transmission terminal and the recipient terminal is determined.

12. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to assign a connection identifier (CID) that is available at all of the same transmission, relay, and recipient terminals as the MCID.

13. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

determine the MCID for the two-hop link with the recipient terminal; and

receive a third message including the MCID determined by the recipient terminal,

wherein, to determine the MCID, the at least one processor is configured to:

receive information on connection identifiers (CIDs) available at both the transmission and relay terminals from the relay terminal, and

determine the MCID based on the CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals and CID available at the recipient terminal.

14. The terminal of claim 13 ,

wherein, to determine the MCID, the at least one processor is configured to:

receive a fourth message including information on CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals from the relay terminal,

compare the CIDs available at both the transmission and relay terminals with a CID available at the recipient terminal, and

determine a CID that matches the MCID.

15. The terminal of claim 8 , wherein the MCID is selected among connection identifiers (CIDs) available at all of the transmission, relay, and recipient terminals.