The present disclosure provides a signal detection method and apparatus for a communication system, and is capable of improving the signal detection capability of a receiving end. The method comprises: step S1, acquiring a channel matrix H; step S2, performing QR decomposition on the channel matrix H to obtain an equivalent channel matrix; step S3, detecting a k-layer signal based on the equivalent channel matrix to obtain a detection result of the k-layer signal; step S4, judging whether layered taboo search algorithm processing needs to be executed on the k-layer signal based on the detection result; and step S5, when the layered taboo search algorithm processing needs to be executed on the k-layer signal, executing the layered taboo search algorithm processing on the k-layer signal, wherein a maximum number of iterations of executing the layered taboo search algorithm processing is determined according to values of Nt and k.