IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK (100), A METHOD (400) OF RESERVING X SLOTS (610) FOR TRANSMITTING DATA FROM A SOURCE DEVICE (110A) TO A DESTINATION DEVICE (110D) VIA MULTI-HOP RELAY INCLUDES SENDING A FIRST HOP RESERVATION REQUEST FROM THE SOURCE DEVICE (110A) TO A SECOND DEVICE (110), FOR TRANSMITTING DATA FROM THE SOURCE DEVICE TO THE DESTINATION DEVICE. THE FIRST HOP RESERVATION REQUEST IDENTIFIES THE SOURCE DEVICE, THE DESTINATION DEVICE, AND X PROPOSED SLOTS (610) TO BE RESERVED FOR THE FIRST HOP. THE SOURCE DEVICE THEN RECEIVES A FIRST MESSAGE, ADDRESSED TO THE SOURCE DEVICE FROM THE SECOND DEVICE, INDICATING THAT THE FIRST HOP RESERVATION REQUEST IS PENDING AND THAT THE X SLOTS PROPOSED BY THE SOURCE DEVICE HAVE BEEN RESERVED BY THE SECOND DEVICE. LATER, THE SOURCE DEVICE RECEIVES A SUBSEQUENT MESSAGE INDICATING WHETHER A FINAL HOP RESERVATION REQUEST HAS BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE DESTINATION DEVICE.
