Systems and methodologies for employing a multi-user Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) relay protocol with self-interference cancellation in a wireless communication environment are provided herein. Data streams sent between user device(s) and base station(s) can traverse through a relay. Further, a decode and forward protocol can be employed by the relay rather than merely amplifying and forwarding the data streams. Moreover, each user device can listen to and decode data stream(s) sent by other user device(s) to the relay, and these decoded data stream(s) can be utilized for interference cancellation. Further, the user device(s) and the base station(s) can employ self-interference cancellation upon signals received from the relay. According to another example, an adaptive relay power allocation algorithm, which enhances power efficiency, can be leveraged by the relay for transmitting signals to the user device(s) and the base station(s).