Abstract: A base station (BS) communicates with a mobile station (MS) through relay stations (RSs). In one exemplary reliable relay-associated transmission scheme, the BS transmits data to the RSs using multicast or unicast. From the received packets, each RS calculates its reliability value according to a reliability function, which it informs the MS. The BS then generates a reliability metric to identify the RSs that are considered reliable. The reliable RSs transmit their information to the MS under a cooperative multicast transmission mode. Meanwhile, the unreliable RSs overhear the transmissions between the reliable RSs and the target MS. If the MS is unable to receive information from reliable RSs, the unreliable RSs can join the cooperative transmission to provide a higher cooperative diversity gain to the target MS.