Patent ID: 8730797

Claim:
A method for forwarding a direct message by a Partial Function Relay Station (PFRS) of an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system, the method comprising the steps of receiving a connection request at the PFRS from a first User Equipment (UE), wherein the connection request relates to a connection between the first UE and a second UE; if the connection request is received from the first UE via an uplink control channel of the PFRS, forwarding the connection request from the PFRS to a Base Station (BS); receiving data at the PFRS from the first UE; if the data is received from the first UE via an uplink reflection data channel of the PFRS, forwarding the data from the PFRS to the second UE via a downlink reflection data channel of the PFRS; receiving a schedule from the BS, wherein the schedule defines direct forwarding over the uplink reflection data channel and the downlink reflection data channel between the first UE and the second UE; and if the schedule is received from the BS via the downlink control channel, forwarding the schedule to the first UE and the second UE.