A Point to Multipoint (PMP) multi-hop relay network includes a base station, one or more relay stations and one or more subscriber stations. Active service flows in a PMP multi-hop relay network have a 16-bit connection identifier (CID). A CID defines the connection that a packet is servicing. Before traffic can be transmitted, the path through the network, and the association of CIDs with respective hops needs to be established. The CID mapping relationship from the ingress air link to the egress air link at each relay station is first set up, which is then followed by a traffic phase where the CID mapping relationship is used to route traffic from a base station to a subscriber station.