Apparatus and method for opportunistic packet scheduling in a multi-hop relay wireless access communication system

An opportunistic packet scheduling apparatus and method in a wireless access communication system using multi-hop relay are provided to increase system efficiency and fairness in distributing radio resources by implementing centralized opportunistic scheduling. A current radio resource efficiency calculating unit(401) calculates efficiency values of the current radio resources and outputs the calculated results to a scheduling priority metric calculating unit(403) and an average radio resource efficiency calculating unit(405). The scheduling priority metric calculating unit(403) calculates scheduling priority metric by using an average radio resource efficiency value, and outputs it to a maximum priority metric user selecting unit(407). The average radio resource efficiency calculating unit(405) calculates and updates the average radio resource efficiency value, and outputs the calculated average radio resource efficiency value to the scheduling priority metric calculating unit(403). The maximum priority metric user selecting unit(407) selects a user having the maximum priority metric and outputs state information of the user selected from a user queue to the average radio resource efficiency calculating unit(405).