An apparatus and a method in a wireless communication system. In the wireless communication system, a master device provides a data forwarding service for one or plural slave devices, a master device side apparatus including: a monitoring unit, configured to monitor a predetermined trigger event relating to a change in state of the master device; a handover pre-measurement control unit, configured to respond to the predetermined trigger event by controlling the handover pre-measurement of the one or plural slave devices; and a handover measurement control unit, configured to control, based on the handover pre-measurement results, the handover measurement of the one or plural slave devices. The apparatus and method can accelerate start time of effective link handover in a dynamic network, reduce unnecessary link handover, and reduce delays and data loss caused by link failure.