A method for communicating data from a source to a destination using a plurality of relay stations in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: grouping the plurality of relay stations into a plurality of relay station groups; receiving, in a relay station group, a subset of data transmitted from the source; sharing information between relay stations in the relay station group for forwarding, to the destination, the received subset of data transmitted from the source; wherein the information shared by the relay stations in the relay station group includes at least one of an instantaneous amplitude, a signal-to-noise ratio, a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio, and reliability of the received subset of data; determining a forwarding scheme for transmitting the received subset of data; and transmitting the received subset of data to the destination using the forwarding scheme, wherein: - the grouping is a traffic load based grouping comprising relay stations responsible for grouping, - each relay station responsible for grouping creates a relay station group by choosing one or more relay stations based on an observed or anticipated volume of traffic per unit time and considering load-balancing and fairness, - the transmission of the relay station group is spread using a spreading code assigned from the destination, and - the same spreading code is used in a first relay station group and different spreading codes are used between the first relay station group and a second relay station group. grouping the plurality of relay stations into a plurality of relay station groups; receiving, in a relay station group, a subset of data transmitted from the source; sharing information between relay stations in the relay station group for forwarding, to the destination, the received subset of data transmitted from the source; wherein the information shared by the relay stations in the relay station group includes at least one of an instantaneous amplitude, a signal-to-noise ratio, a signal-to-interference plus noise ratio, and reliability of the received subset of data; determining a forwarding scheme for transmitting the received subset of data; and transmitting the received subset of data to the destination using the forwarding scheme, wherein: - the grouping is a traffic load based grouping comprising relay stations responsible for grouping, - each relay station responsible for grouping creates a relay station group by choosing one or more relay stations based on an observed or anticipated volume of traffic per unit time and considering load-balancing and fairness, - the transmission of the relay station group is spread using a spreading code assigned from the destination, and - the same spreading code is used in a first relay station group and different spreading codes are used between the first relay station group and a second relay station group. - the grouping is a traffic load based grouping comprising relay stations responsible for grouping, - each relay station responsible for grouping creates a relay station group by choosing one or more relay stations based on an observed or anticipated volume of traffic per unit time and considering load-balancing and fairness, - the transmission of the relay station group is spread using a spreading code assigned from the destination, and - the same spreading code is used in a first relay station group and different spreading codes are used between the first relay station group and a second relay station group.