A system and method of data communication is provided for use in a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system includes a base station, a relay user equipment (UE) and an out of coverage UE (OOC-UE). The method includes receiving, at the relay UE and from the base station, a relay cycle configuration, the relay cycle configuration defining a relay cycle including a first time period for device to device (D2D) communication, and a second time period for cellular communication. The method then includes receiving, at the relay UE by D2D communication, within the first time period and from the out of coverage UE (OOC-UE), relay data, and providing, from the relay UE by cellular communication, within the second time period and to the BS, the relay data.