Methods and devices for modulation and coding scheme, mcs, selection for retransmission less uplink communications

Abstract

A communications device is configured to transmit uplink data via a wireless access interface using configured grant (CG) resources of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The uplink data is encoded and transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme (MCS). The first MCS or the second MCS is selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data in response to a feedback indication is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme (e.g. HARQ), in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received or an indication is received that the uplink data was received correctly (e.g. HARQ-NACK / HARQ-ACK). In some examples, the first MCS or the second MCS selected to encode and to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme. For example, the uplink data may be transmitted in the CG-PUSCH with uplink control information (UCI) which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the first MCS or the second MCS selected by the communication device can be determined from this indication in the UCI implicitly or the UCI may include information which efficiently provides this indication explicitly.

Description

[0001] METHODS AND DEVICES FOR MODULATION AND CODING SCHEME, MCS, SELECTION FOR RETRANSMISSION LESS UPLINK COMMUNICATIONS

[0002] BACKGROUND

[0003] Field of Disclosure

[0004] The present disclosure relates to infrastructure equipment, communications devices, and methods for the transmission and / or reception of data by an infrastructure equipment in a wireless communications network.

[0005] The present disclosure claims the Paris convention priority from European patent application EP23188799.3, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0006] Description of Related Art

[0007] The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.

[0008] Previous generation mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

[0009] Current and future wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than existing systems are optimised to support. For example, it is expected future wireless communications networks will be expected efficiently to support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended Reality (XR) and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles / characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different consideration may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements).

[0010] In view of this there is expected to be a desire for current wireless communications networks, for example those which may be referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems / new radio access technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations / releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

[0011] One example of a new service is referred to as Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services which, as its name suggests, requires that a data unit or packet be communicated with a high reliability and with a low communications delay. Another example of a new service is extended Reality (XR), which may be provided by various user equipment such as wearable devices. XR combines real- world and virtual environments, incorporating aspects such as augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR), and thus requires high quality and minimised interaction delay. Services such as URLLC and XR therefore represent a challenging example for both LTE type communications systems and 5G / NR communications systems, as well as future generation communications systems.

[0012] 5G NR has continuously evolved and the current work plan includes 5G-NR-advanced in which some further enhancements are expected, especially to support new use-cases / scenarios with higher requirements. The desire to support these new use-cases and scenarios gives rise to new challenges for efficiently handling communications in wireless communications systems that need to be addressed.

[0013] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0014] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0015] The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above.

[0016] According example embodiments, a communications device, for communicating via a wireless communications network, comprises transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry. The control circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using configured grant (CG) resources of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The uplink data is encoded and transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data in response to a feedback indication is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme (e.g. HARQ), in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received or an indication is received that the uplink data was received correctly (e.g. HARQ-NACK / HARQ-ACK). In some examples, the first MCS or the second MCS selected to encode and to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme. For example, the uplink data may be transmitted in the CG-PUSCH with uplink control information (UCI) which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the first MCS or the second MCS selected by the communication device can be determined from this indication in the UCI implicitly or the UCI may include information which efficiently provides this indication explicitly.

[0017] Example embodiments can provide effective and efficient use of communications resources when using CG-PUSCH by providing an implicit or an explicit indication of a MCS used for encoding and transmitting uplink data based on whether the scheme for transmission is retransmission-less or forms part of a retransmission scheme such as a HARQ scheme. Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

[0018] Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims and include a communications device (for example, a UE), and a core network apparatus and methods for operating the same.

[0019] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0020] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0022] Figure 1 schematically represents some aspects of a 5G / new radio access technology (RAT) wireless communications system which may be configured to operate in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a communications device communicating data to and / or from an infrastructure equipment (gNB) forming part of the wireless communication system shown in Figure 1;

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a variation and periodicity of data generated by extended Reality (XR) application;

[0025] Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a wireless access interface configured with a Configured Grant of Physical Uplink Shared Channel (CG-PUSCH) with a Configured Grant (CG) period having a plurality of K=4 repetitions, each repetition having a transmission occasion;

[0026] Figure 5 is a schematic representation of a wireless access interface configured with another example of a CG-PUSCH with a CG period having a plurality of K=8 repetitions;

[0027] Figure 6 is a representation of a wireless access interface according to an example of a New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) Channel Access on a grid of radio communications resources, in which communications devices and infrastructure equipment perform a contentious access to communications resources of the NR-U;

[0028] Figure 7a is a table 1 of MCS values corresponding to Table 5.1.3. 1-1 of TS 38.214; and Figure 7b is a table 2 of MCS values corresponding to Table 5.1.3. 1-3 of TS 38.214;

[0029] Figure 8 illustrates an example of a main CG-PUSCH with two supplementary CG-PUSCHs, which can be activated on demand by a communications device (UE);

[0030] Figures 9 is an illustrative representation of a wireless access interface with a CG period of transmission occasions of a CG-PUSCH which can be used / unused by a communications device (UE);

[0031] Figure 10 is a part schematic block diagram, part flow diagram illustrating an operation of a communications device (UE) and an infrastructure equipment (gNB) communicating uplink data via a CG-PUSCH with an MCS level determined implicitly from an indication in a Uplink Control Information (UCI) message of whether data transmitted in a PUSCH is retransmission-less or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme (HARQ) according to example embodiments; Figure 11 is illustrative example of a technique for changing an MCS value using the same index in two different MCS tables of Figures 7a and 7b for retransmission-less or a scheme with retransmission (HARQ) according to example embodiments; and

[0032] Figure 12 is a part schematic block diagram, part flow diagram illustrating an operation of a communications device (UE) and an infrastructure equipment (gNB) communicating uplink data via a CG-PUSCH with an MCS level determined explicitly from a field in a UCI message for data transmitted in a PUSCH using retransmission-less or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme (HARQ) according to example embodiments.

[0033] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0034] Wireless Communications Network Including Radio Access Technology (5G)

[0035] An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Figure 1. In Figure 1 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 30.

[0036] As will be appreciated by those acquainted with the wireless communications network according to a 5G standard as shown in Figure 1, the CU 40, DU 42 and TRPs 10 collectively refer to functions which are conventionally performed by a network base station or, in accordance with 5G terminology, a gNodeB (gNB). In terms of broad top-level functionality, the term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand, the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective DUs and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node / central unit and / or the distributed units / TRPs.

[0037] A communications device 14 is represented in Figure 1 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the first CU 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units / TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12. The communications devices 14 may be referred to as mobile terminals, terminals or user equipment (UE), which encompasses chip sets and have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices known for operation with wireless communications networks.

[0038] Figure 2 provides a more detailed diagram of components shown in Figure 1. Components shown in Figure 2 which are also shown in Figure 1 bear the same numerical designations and so description of these parts will not be repeated for brevity. In Figure 2, a TRP 120, which broadly corresponds to TRP 10 in Figure 1, and comprises, as a simplified representation, a transmitter 126, a receiver 124 and a controller or controlling processor 122 which may operate to control the transmitter 126 and the receiver 124 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs within a cell (not shown in Figure 2 for clarity) provided by the TRP 120. As shown in Figure 2, the TRP 120 is connected to a DU 140 via a physical interface 130 which may be a fibre optic cable, for example. The physical interface 130 therefore provides a communications link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 120 via the DU 140 and a CU 160 to a core network 400. An interface 150 between the DU 140 and the CU 160 is known as the Fl interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The Fl interface 150 between the DU 140 and the CU 160 may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470

[0017] and 3GPP TS 38.473

[0018] , and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. The connection between a TRP 120 and the core network 400 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the physical interface 130 from the TRP 120 to the DU 140 and the Fl interface 150 from the DU 140 to the CU 160.

[0039] As shown in Figure 2, the TRP 120 may be configured to transmit downlink radio signals and receive uplink radio signals from a UE 200 via a direct wireless communications link 250 which may be a Uu interface in one example. The UE 200 is shown to include a transmitter 226, a receiver 224 and a controller 222 which is configured to control the transmitter 226 and the receiver 224 to transmit uplink signals to the TRP 120 and to receive downlink signals from the TRP 120 over the wireless communications link 250 formed between the UE 200 and the TRP 120.

[0040] The transmitters 126, 226 and the receivers 124, 224, as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components, circuitry and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G / NR standard. The controllers 122, 222, as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Figure 2 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computer(s), or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) / circuitry / chip(s) / chipset(s).

[0041] As mentioned above, the TRP 120, DU 140 and the CU 160 may collectively form the gNB 202 which is an example of infrastructure equipment of a radio access network of a wireless communications network. Therefore, references to the UE 200 communicating with the TRP 120 can alternatively be considered as references to the UE 200 communicating with the gNB 202. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the UE 200 is an example of a communications device or wireless transceiver unit. As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment / TRP / base station / gNB as well as the UE / communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with its operating functionality. eURLLC, NR-U, and extended Reality

[0042] Systems incorporating NR technology are expected to support different services (or types of services), which may be characterised by different requirements for latency, data rate and / or reliability. For example, Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services are characterised by high capacity with a requirement to support up to 20 Gb / s. A requirement for Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) services is that one transmission of a 32 byte packet is required to be transmitted from the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU ingress point to the radio protocol layer 2 / 3 SDU egress point of the radio interface within 1 ms with a reliability of 1 - 10'5(99.999 %) or higher (99.9999 %) [2] . Massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) is another example of a service which may be supported by NR-based communications networks. In addition, systems may be expected to support further enhancements related to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in order to support services with new requirements of high availability, high reliability, low latency, and in some cases, high-accuracy positioning.

[0043] Enhanced URLLC (eURLLC) [3] [4] specifies features that require high reliability and low latency, such as factory automation, transport industry, electrical power distribution, etc. It should be appreciated that the Uplink Control Information (UCI) for URLLC and eMBB will have different requirements.

[0044] Another such service incorporating NR technology is 5G NR in Unlicensed Spectrum (NR-U) [5], which enable devices to make use of shared and unlicensed spectrum bandwidth. Such features as Listen Before Talk (LBT), as specified by [5], is incorporated into the NR frame structure for NR-U operation in unlicensed bands. extended Reality (XR) and Cloud Gaming refer to various types of augmented, virtual, and mixed environments, where human-to-machine and human-to-human communications are performed with the assistance of handheld and wearable end user devices (UEs). XR and Cloud Gaming are two more recently developed applications, that are considered important for NR Rel-18 and beyond (also known as 5G Advanced) [6],

[0045] XR traffic is rich in video, especially in the downlink, with a typical frame rate of 60 Hz [7], which leads to a data transmission with non-integer periodicity in NR, i.e. the periodicity is not an integer number of subframes and in this example, the periodicity is 16.67 ms. Due to varying frame encoding delay and network transfer time, the packet arrival at the gNB may experience random jitter. The noninteger and jitter characteristics of XR traffic is known as quasi-periodic traffic. In addition to jitter, the packet size also varies within a range; that is the packet size in each period is random. The jitter and random packet size of UL traffic is illustrated in Figure 3, which is based on a similar figure (Figure 5. 1.1-1) in [8],

[0046] Figure 3 illustrates a single stream traffic model for XR. A first packet k 51 is transmitted, representing Internet Protocol (IP) packets belonging to video frame k. At a later point in time - which, on average, is the inverse of the frame generation rate (i.e., 1 / fps) as denoted by arrow 55 - a second packet k+1 52 is transmitted, representing IP packets belonging to video frame k+1. The variable packet size which follows a probability distribution is shown by arrow 53, while the variable jitter which also follows a probability distribution is denoted by arrow 54.

[0047] In the legacy 5G system, traffic with known periodicity and packet size, e.g. voice, is supported using Configured Grant of PUSCH (CG-PUSCH) and Semi-Persistent Scheduling (SPS) Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCH). In the legacy system, CG-PUSCH (which is discussed in greater detail below) and SPS assume that the Transport Block Size (TBS) of the PUSCH and PDSCH of the traffic are the same in every period. However, in XR traffic, the payload of a quasi-periodic traffic may not be the same but varies within a range.

[0048] Rel-15 Configured Grant - Physical Uplink Shared Channel Transmissions As is well understood by those skilled in the art, a UE uses a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) for uplink data transmission. The PUSCH resources used for the transmission of the PUSCH can be scheduled by a gNB using a Dynamic Grant (DG) or a Configured Grant (CG).

[0049] In a Dynamic Grant PUSCH (DG-PUSCH), the UE typically sends a Scheduling Request (SR) to the gNB when uplink data arrives at its buffer. In response to receiving the SR, the gNB would then send an Uplink Grant, e.g., via Downlink Control Information (DCI) using DCI Format 0 0, 0 1 or 0 2, carried by a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) to the UE where this Uplink Grant schedules resources for a PUSCH. The UE then uses the scheduled PUSCH (i.e. DG-PUSCH) to transmit its uplink data.

[0050] It is observed that the use of DG-PUSCHs introduces latency, since the UE needs to initiate an SR and has to wait for an Uplink Grant before it is scheduled PUSCH resources. For regular and periodic traffic, DG-PUSCH would lead to multiple SR and Uplink Grants being sent which is not an efficient use of resources. Hence, recognising the drawbacks of DG-PUSCH, Configured Grant of PUSCH (CG- PUSCH) is introduced in NR. In CG-PUSCH, the UE is pre-configured using Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration periodic PUSCH resources, such that the UE can transmit its uplink data in any of these regularly occurring CG-PUSCH resources without the need to request it with an SR. There are two types of CG-PUSCH:

[0051] • Type 1 CG-PUSCH: Once the CG-PUSCH resource is configured by RRC, the UE can use it without activation; and

[0052] • Type 2 CG-PUSCH: The CG-PUSCH resource is firstly RRC configured. The UE can only use the CG-PUSCH resource if it receives an activation DCI, which is an UL Grant with a Configured Scheduling-Radio Network Temporary Identifier (CS-RNTI). Once the CG- PUSCH is activated the UE can use it until it is deactivated by another DCI. Type 2 CG- PUSCH provides better control for the gNB scheduler and therefore more efficiently utilises resources.

[0053] In the time domain, a CG-PUSCH consists of a periodicity PCG, repetitions K = { 1, 2, 4, 8}, duration L of the PUSCH and starting symbol offset relative to slot boundary S of the PUSCH. An example is shown in Figure 4, where the CG-PUSCH has a periodicity CG=224 symbols (or 16 slots), repetition of =4, duration of L=9 symbols and a starting symbol .S'=3 symbols from the start of slot boundary. The CG-PUSCH consists of Transmission Occasions (TO), where a TO is an opportunity for the UE to transmit uplink data. It should be noted here that the UE does not need to use a TO, i.e., a CG-PUSCH resource, if it has no uplink data to transmit. For example, in Slot n, the UE does not have any uplink data and so it does not transmit anything in the TOs for that CG period but in the next CG Period starting in Slot «+16, the UE has uplink data and therefore uses the TOs in that CG Period to transmit four repetitions of the uplink data.

[0054] The first TO in a CG Period is associated with Redundancy Version RV=0. If repetition K> \ . then each TO in the CG Period is associated with an RRC configured RV pattern, where the RV pattern can be {0, 2, 3, 1}, {0, 3, 0, 3} or {0, 0, 0, 0}. The RV pattern is configured in RRC parameter repK-RV. For example, in Figure 4, the RV pattern = {0, 2, 3, 1 } . The first PUSCH transmission in a CG Period must always start with RV=0. For repetition K=8, the RV pattern is cycled after the fourth repetition; i.e. the RV pattern restarts after the fourth repetition. For example, in Figure 5, the RV pattern = {0, 2, 3, 1} and K=% repetitions. Here the UE cycles the RV at the fifth repetition, where the RV pattern is restarted at the fifth TO of the CG period in Slot n+4.

[0055] Since Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) is used for PUSCH transmission, each PUSCH is associated with a HARQ Process Number (HPN) where there are 16 HARQ processes, i.e., HPN = 0 to 15. In DG-PUSCH, the HPN is indicated in the UL Grant. For CG-PUSCH, since there is no UL Grant, each CG period is associated with an HPN and is dependent upon the starting symbol OCG (in units of symbols) of the first TO in a CG period relative to SFN=0, the periodicity PCG (in units of symbols) and the number of HARQ processes NHARQ configured for the CG-PUSCH [7] (i.e., the gNB can configured less than 16 HARQ processes for a CG-PUSCH), i.e.:

[0056] OCG

[0057] HPN = MOD NHARQ

[0058] -PCG -

[0059] Where [. Jis the Floor function and OCG is relative to the first symbol of the first slot of the radio frame with SFN=0.

[0060] Retransmission of a CG-PUSCH is scheduled using an UU Grant. That is, a DG-PUSCH is used for the retransmission of a CG-PUSCH that is not decoded successfully at the gNB. If the UE does not receive an UE Grant for the retransmission of a CG-PUSCH within a pre-configured timer TCG-ACK, the UE will consider that the CG-PUSCH has been received successfully. The timer TCG-ACK, is configured by RRC parameter configuredGrantTimer .

[0061] Channel Access in NR-U Using CG-PUSCH

[0062] In the following paragraphs, an explanation is provided of current proposals for accessing communications from an unlicensed frequency band. In an unlicensed band, two or more systems may operate to communicate using the same communications resources. As a result, transmissions from different systems can interfere with each other especially when for example, each of the different systems are configured according to different technical standards, for example Wi-Fi and 5G. Of course, transmissions from systems operating in accordance with the same standard may also cause interference. As such, there is a regulatory requirement to use an LBT protocol for each transmitter operating in an unlicensed band to reduce interferences among different systems (either operating according to the same or different technical standards as one another) sharing that band. In LBT, a device that wishes to transmit a packet will firstly sense the band for any energy levels above a threshold to determine if any other device is transmitting, i.e. it listens, and if there is no detected transmission, the device will then transmit its packet. Otherwise, if the device senses a transmission from another device it will back-off and try again at a later time.

[0063] In NR-U the channel access can be Dynamic (also known as Load Based Equipment) or Semi-Static (also known as Frame Based Equipment). The dynamic channel access schemes consist of one or more Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) phases in a Contention Window followed by a Channel Occupancy Time (COT) phase as shown Figure 6. LBT is performed during the CCA phase by an NR-U device (e.g. gNB or UE) that wishes to perform a transmission. According to the CCA phase, the NR-U device listens to one or more of CCA slots and if no other transmission is detected (i.e. energy level is determined to be below a threshold for the duration of the one or more CCA slots) after the CCA phase, the NR-U device moves into the COT phase where it can transmit its packet in the COT resources. In Dynamic Channel Access (DCA) the CCA and COT phases can be of different length between different systems whilst in Semi-static Channel Access, the CCA and COT phases have fixed time windows and are synchronised for all systems sharing the band. Further details on channel access in NR-U may be found in co-pending International patent application with international publication number WO 2022 / 018230 [9],

[0064] A COT can be shared by multiple devices; i.e. a gNB can initiate the COT which it can then share with one or more UE. For example, a gNB can initiate a COT, and then can transmit an UL Grant to a UE, and the UE can then use this COT to transmit the PUSCH. A device using a COT initiated by another device may not need to perform CCA, or may need to perform just a short CCA. Those skilled in the art would appreciate that a UE can also initiate a COT.

[0065] Configured Grant - Uplink Control Information

[0066] In Rel-15 and Rel-16 eURLLC, the HARQ Process Number (HPN) and Redundancy Version (RV) of each CG-PUSCH transmission is fixed for each TO, and is known to the gNB. However, in Rel-16 NR-U, the UE can use any of the TOs for a first PUSCH transmission, and different TBs (i.e. with different HPN) can be transmitted in a CG occasion, and therefore the gNB needs to know the HPN and the RV of these CG-PUSCH. In order to provide this information to the gNB, CG Uplink Control Information (CG-UCI) is introduced for Rel-16 NR-U, which consists of the following fields:

[0067] • HARQ Process Number (HPN) (indicated by 4 bits);

[0068] • Redundancy Version (RV) (indicated by 2 bits);

[0069] • New Data Indicator (NDI) (indicated by 1 bit); and

[0070] • COT sharing information (indicated by ogiCoL bits, where CDL is the number of entries in a lookup table indicating the locations of DL resources that the gNB can use within the UE initiated COT).

[0071] The CG-UCI is multiplexed into the CG-PUSCH transmission.

[0072] Reliability of Eegacy Configured Grant - Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0073] In previously proposed 3GPP releases of 4G and 5G standards, a reliability of the CG-PUSCH is defined by the MCS level configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signalling. There are at least two MCS tables: MCS table with a very low channel coding rate (i.e., low spectral efficiency) intended for high reliability transmissions like URLLC service (about 10'5packet error rate), and another MCS table for slightly higher channel coding rate intended for moderate reliability transmissions like eMBB service (about 10'3packet error rate). Examples of the MCS tables from Technical Standard document TS 38.214 are shown in Figures 7a and 7b, in which Figure 7a shows an MCS table 1 from 5. 1.3. 1-1 and Figures 7b shows MCS table 2 from 5.1.3.1-3

[0074] The MCS level and MCS table for CG type 1 are configured semi-statically (i.e., not dynamically indicated) for CG-PUSCH. So, as Rel-16 supports multiple CG configurations (up to 12), different CG configurations can have different MCS and or MCS tables.

[0075] Rel-18 Supplementary Configured Grant-Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0076] Supplementary CG-PUSCH is proposed for NR in Rel-18, where additional CG-PUSCHs (i.e., supplementary CG-PUSCHs) can be configured for each of the multiple CG-PUSCHs, and these supplementary CG-PUSCHs can be dynamically activated (i.e., indicated whether a given supplementary CG-PUSCH is used or unused) using CG-UCI in the main (i.e., first) CG-PUSCH. Since the supplementary CG-PUSCHs are dynamically activated, they are only used if required. If they are not activated, the allocated resources can be reallocated by the gNB to schedule other traffic or UEs. The first CG-PUSCH transmission occasion within a period of the CG-PUSCH configuration is called main CG-PUSCH. The subsequent CG-PUSCH transmission occasion(s) within a period of the CG- PUSCH configuration are called supplementary CG-PUSCH(s).

[0077] An example of this operation is shown in Figure 8, where a UE is configured with a CG-PUSCH configuration, CG#1, with K=1 repetitions to support XR traffic. For XR traffic with a minimum TBS of 0.5 Mbits and a maximum TBS of 1.5 Mbits, in order to reduce resource wastage, the CG-PUSCH is configured with a TBS corresponding to the minimum XR packet size of 0.5 Mbit, and with two supplementary CG-PUSCHs (each also 0.5 Mbit in size), thereby allowing the main and supplementary CG-PUSCHs between them to support up to the maximum XR packet size of 1.5 Mbit, if required. In the example of Figure 8, a UE may have an XR packet of 1.0 Mbit arrive at its buffer ahead of Slot n, and so the UE is therefore able to transmit this XR packet using CG# 1. Since the main CG-PUSCH of 0.5 Mbit, labelled as 1-0 in Figure 8, is not sufficient to empty the UE buffer completely, the CG-UCI transmitted by the UE within the main CG-PUSCH 1-0 activates a supplementary CG-PUSCH 1-1 to carry the remaining 0.5 Mbit of data from the UE’s buffer. Since supplementary CG-PUSCH 1-2 is not needed to transmit any of the XR packet, it is not activated by the UE, and hence can be used by the gNB to schedule other traffic or another UE.

[0078] It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the example of Figure 8 exemplifies just one way in which supplementary CG-PUSCHs could be implemented, since the details of supplementary CG- PUSCH are not defined.

[0079] Retransmission-less Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0080] One of the pieces information that an XR device needs to transmit is its position and orientation (which can collectively be referred to as its pose) so that the XR application can determine the position at which the user is located and the direction the user is looking and respond appropriately (i.e., tracking of the XR Viewer pose). For example, if a VR headset displaying a virtual room sends pose information to the XR server suggesting the wearer of that VR headset is looking up, the server would display video of the ceiling of that virtual room rather than the floor. In addition to pose information, there may also be other types of control information that an XR device sends to the server on the uplink. Additionally, the XR device may transmit video and / or audio data so that it can be used by the counter-part of the XR user (such as the XR application server for example). Video and / or audio data typically require a large data size and are less time-sensitive. On the other hand, pose / control UL transmissions in XR are typically smaller in size and are a more time-sensitive nature. For example, if a person looks up and then looks down again, the video needs to display the ceiling and the floor accordingly in a timely manner. Since pose / control UL transmission is time-sensitive, if the UL transmission comprising such pose or control information fails, it may not be beneficial to retransmit that information again. For example, if a person looks up and then down, and the pose information when the person looks up fails to reach the server, there is not much benefit of retransmitting it again since by the time it is retransmitted the person may have already looked down and therefore no longer expects to see the ceiling. Recognising the nature of pose / control UL transmissions for services like XR, proposals have been made that such UL transmissions do not require HARQ retransmissions and, since they are small, they can be transmitted with very robust (i.e., low) MCSs thereby ensuring their reliability

[0010] , In addition, retransmission-less CG-PUSCH also has the benefits of both resource saving, since resources are not required to be used for retransmissions, and power saving, since the UE does not have to monitor for a potential retransmission from the gNB.

[0081] Retransmission-less Indicator

[0082] Whether a CG-PUSCH is HARQ retransmission-less or requires HARQ retransmission is dynamically indicated (e.g. using a Retransmission-less indicator, referred to herein a retransmission indicator) in the UCI (i.e., CG-UCI) of a CG-PUSCH. This enables the UE to indicate per CG- PUSCH occasion whether that CG-PUSCH transmission requires HARQ retransmission or not. The provides full flexibility of allowing any CG-PUSCH occasion (and not just particular CG-PUSCH configurations) to operate with or without HARQ retransmissions. The retransmission-less indicator is also disclosed in our co-pending European patent application number EP23166140.6 filed on 31 March 2023

[0015] , where a UE can indicate dynamically, for example in the UCI, that a current CG- PUSCH is HARQ retransmission-less or requires HARQ retransmission. The contents of EP23166140.6 are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The retransmission-less indicator can be carried by the same UCI as above, for example additional 1 -bit can be employed to for this purpose.

[0083] The retransmission indicator is included in a CG-UCI which is included in a CG-PUSCH transmission and is independently encoded from the CG-PUSCH at the UE and decoded separately from the CG- PUSCH at the gNB.

[0084] Example Embodiments

[0085] Figure 9 shows a UE configured with a single CG PUSCH Index 1, with a periodicity of 8 ms or 8 slots. For the example illustrated by Figure 9, which may be for example for CG Type 1, the same MCS level and MCS table are employed to encode CG-PUSCH that are configured semi-statically for a given CG configuration. Hence, the reliability is the same for CG PUSCH with retransmissions and retransmission-less CG PUSCH. However, if UE decides to indicate HARQ retransmission-less for the CG-PUSCH and uses the same MCS level, the reliability of this CG-PUSCH with a “one shot” transmission (retransmission-less) may not be satisfactory. That is to say, that a level of encoding and modulating the data for transmission may not be sufficient for effective communication of the data without a retransmission and so a coding level may be required to be increased. “Coding level” here means an amount of redundancy added to the data as part of an encoding and a modulation process.

[0086] Embodiments can provide an arrangement in which an MCS level can be explicitly or implicitly varied in dependence upon whether an uplink transmission is retransmission-less or forms part of retransmission (HARQ) scheme. That is to say the MCS level or coding level can be varied dynamically in accordance with whether a HARQ scheme is being used or no HARQ scheme is being used. Accordingly, Uplink Control Information (UCI) transmitted by a UE may include an explicit or implicit indication of a change in MCS level in accordance with whether retransmission is used or not.

[0087] Hence, embodiments can provide a UE and gNB with flexibility of changing the MCS level when the UE indicates that the CG-PUSCH is HARQ retransmission or retransmission-less with no, or at least reduced / minimised signalling overhead. According to example embodiments therefore a UE can indicate dynamically a new MCS level implicitly or explicitly when a CG-PUSCH is with HARQ or retransmission-less.

[0088] According to example embodiments, a UE, for communicating via a wireless communications network. The UE is configured to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using resources of a CG-PUSCH. The uplink data is encoded and transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme (e.g. HARQ), in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an ACK or NACK. In some examples, the first MCS or the second MCS selected to encode and to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or transmitted with the retransmission scheme. For example, the uplink data may be transmitted in the CG-PUSCH with UCI multiplexed whether the uplink data transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the first MCS or the second MCS selected by the communication device can be determined from this indication in the UCI implicitly or the UCI may include information which efficiently provides this indication explicitly.

[0089] Implicit indication

[0090] In one embodiment, the UE is configured with two MCS levels semi-statically for a CG configuration where the two MCS levels belong to the same MCS table, i.e., one MCS level is used for CG-PUSCH with retransmission-less communication and another MCS level is used for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmissions. When a UE indicates that the CG-PUSCH is retransmission-less, the UE has applied MCS level configured for the retransmission-less CG, otherwise the UE has employed MCS level configured for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission. This means that it is an implicit indication of the MCS level. For example, 1-bit indicates whether the CG-PUSCH is retransmission-less or requires retransmission, and the same bit also indicates which MCS level has been applied to encode the CG PUSCH.

[0091] Figure 10 illustrates an example embodiment, which shows a part schematic block diagram, part message flow diagram of a wireless communications system representing operations according to the example embodiment. The wireless communication system includes other components but for simplicity Figure 10 presents communications between a communications device 100 (e.g., a UE 14) and an infrastructure equipment 102 (e.g. a gNB 10) of the wireless communication system. The UE 100 is configured to transmit signals to and / or receive signals from the wireless communications network, for example, to and from the gNB 102. Specifically, the UE 100 may be configured to transmit uplink data to and / or receive data from the wireless communications network (e.g., to / from the gNB 102) via a wireless radio interface provided by the wireless communications network (e.g., a Uu interface between the UE 100 and the Radio Access Network (RAN), which includes the gNB 102). Such data transmitted by the UE 100 may, for example, include data for applications such as XR. The UE 100 and the gNB 102 each comprise a transceiver (or transceiver circuitry) 100.1, 102.1, and a controller (or controller circuitry) 10.2, 102.2. Each of the controllers 100.2, 102.2 may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset and or circuitry, etc.

[0092] As shown in the example of Figure 10, in a first operation SI, the transceiver circuitry 102.1 is controlled by the control circuitry 102.2 to transmit configuration information 110 to the UE 100 in order to configure the UE 100 with CG-PUSCH resources. As explained above this is typically done by exchanging Radio Resource Control, RRC, messages with the UE to establish the CG-PUSCH resources according to type 1 or type 2. After being configured with the CG-PUSCH, the transceiver circuitry 100.1 and the controller circuitry 100.2 of the UE 100 are configured in combination as an operation S2, to transmit uplink datal l2 on an uplink channel of the CG-PUSCH in a first uplink transmission occasion with a UCI and PUSCH multiplexed together. As an operation S3, the transceiver circuitry 102. 1 and the controller circuitry 102.2 of the gNB 102 are configured to monitor the uplink channel PUSCH for an uplink transmission from the UE 100. The gNB may be configured to detect the UCI, which includes a retransmission indicator. Based on identifying the retransmission indicator associated with the first uplink transmission occasion 112, the gNB 102 determines as part of the operation S3 whether the transmission in the CG-PUSCH is retransmission-less or is part of a HARQ process.

[0093] At decision point S4, the gNB 102 determines whether the UCI has indicated that the PUSCH transmission is retransmission-less or not. According to this example, an indication in the UCI that the PUSCH transmission is retransmission-less, implies that a first MCS level has been used to encode the uplink data transmitted in the PUSCH and in step S6 a 1stMCS level is selected. If at step S4 the gNB 102 determines that the PUSCH transmission has been encoded for a possibility of retransmission according to a HARQ scheme, at step S5, the gNB determines that the PUSCH data has been encoded with a second MCS level and so selects a 2ndMCS level for decoding.

[0094] If at step S4, the gNB 102 determines that the PUSCH data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme, then after selecting the 1stMCS level, the gNB decodes the data using the selected level at step S7. In contrast if the PUSCH data has been transmitted as part of an HARQ scheme, then after selecting the 2ndMCS level at step S5, the gNB performs a HARQ process and decodes the PUSCH data according to the 2ndMCS level, selected at step S5. Depending on a result of that decoding, the gNB 102 allocates resources for transmission of HARQ-NACK and determines that it will schedule uplink resources for the UE 100 to perform retransmission of the uplink data. Processing according to the HARQ scheme may be at least partly according to a HARQ process disclosed in our co-pending European patent application number EP23171298.2 filed on 9 May 2023

[0016] , the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0095] As will be appreciated the process performed by the gNB and UE in Figure 10 corresponds to an implicit indication of the MCS level according to this example embodiment.

[0096] In another embodiment, the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with retransmission-less has a lower channel coding rate than the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission, so that the reliability of the retransmission-less CG-PUSCH can be improved. In other words, the MCS level for the CG- PUSCH with retransmission-less is lower (e.g. has greater redundancy or more robust) than the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission. In this case, for example, two MCS levels are configured: MCS Index (IMCS) = 2 and 4 from Table 1 shown in Figure 7a.

[0097] In another embodiment, the UE is configured with two MCS levels semi-statically for a CG configuration where the two MCS levels belong to different MCS tables. In this case, the MCS levels can be the same as each belong to a different MCS table. For example, MCS Index (IMCS) = 4 from Table 1 and MCS Index IMCS) = 4 from Table 2 as shown on Figure 11. For example, if the CG- PUSCH UCI indicates that retransmission is required and the MCS level / Index = 4, then the gNB would expect that the CG-PUSCH uses MCS index = 4 from Table 1, which has a spectral efficiency of 0.6016, and if the UCI indicates that the CG-PUSCH is retransmission-less, then the gNB would expect the CG-PUSCH to use MCS index = 4 from Table 2, which has a lower (and hence higher reliability) spectral efficiency of 0. 1523. It should be appreciated that Figure 11 is an example implementation of this embodiment and that other MCS tables can be used.

[0098] In another embodiment, based on Figure 11 where the configured MCS levels for CG-PUSCH are different by indicating the same level in different tables, the implicit indication provides a pointer to indicate which table to use for retransmission-less and with retransmission (HARQ).

[0099] In another embodiment, the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmissions is configured according to the conventional HARQ scheme, with the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with retransmission-less is derived by applying a delta value from the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmissions. The delta value can be configured semi-statically for CG Type 1 and Type 2, via RRC signalling, for a given CG configuration or indicated in the activation DCI for CG Type 2.

[0100] In another embodiment, the application of the delta value in deriving MCS level for retransmissionless CG-PUSCH is to subtract the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with retransmission by the delta value.

[0101] Explicit indication:

[0102] In one embodiment, the UE indicates explicitly the MCS level used for the CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission-less. For example, two or four MCS levels are configured semi-statically from the same MCS table, and UE indicates one of them using a field in the UCI, for example with 1 -bit or 2-bits respectively. The 1 -bit or 2-bits may be carried by the UCI piggybacked or multiplexed on CG-PUSCH. Conventionally an MCS index of 5 bits is used, which is indicated by a gNB to a UE in a Downlink Control Information (DCI) for dynamic PUSCH and CG Type 2. In contrast, according to this embodiment, the MCS level is indicated by the UE in the UCI in a smaller number of bits for efficiency. The MCS level indicated is a subset of available MCS levels and therefore uses less than 5 bits.

[0103] Figure 12 illustrates an example embodiment, which shows a part schematic block diagram, part message flow diagram of a wireless communications system representing operations according to an example embodiment. Figure 12 illustrates example operations of a UE 100 and gNB 102 corresponding to the embodiment shown in Figure 10 and so only the differences will be described for brevity and clarity. According to the example embodiment illustrated in Figure 12, at step SI 1 the gNB 102 configures the UE 100 according to RRC signalling with CG-PUSCH in correspondence with the operation SI shown in Figure 10. When the UE has data to transmit, the UE accesses the CG PUSCH according to CG type 1 or type 2 configuration and in step S 12 the UE 100 transmits the uplink data 912 in a CG-PUSCH transmission opportunity multiplexed with a UCI as for S2 of Figure 10. However, for the example shown in Figure 12, the UCI includes an MCS field which indicates an MCS level along with a field indicating whether the uplink data transmitted in the PUSCH is retransmission-less or is transmitted with a retransmission scheme such as a HARQ scheme.

[0104] According to this example embodiment, the UE 100 transmits in step S12 a UCI multiplexed with the PUSCH 912. In step S13, the gNB 102 detects the UCI with a retransmission indicator field as explained above for the example shown in Figure 10. As the example shown in Figure 10, in Figure 12 at a decision point S 14, the gNB 102 determines whether the PUSCH data has been transmitted according to retransmission-less scheme or whether it has been transmitted with retransmission / HARQ scheme. If the PUSCH data has been transmitted as retransmission-less, at step SI 5, the gNB 102 determines the MCS level from the field of the received UCI multiplexed with the PUSCH transmission. Accordingly, at step S16, the gNB 102 decodes the PUSCH data using the MCS level indicated from the field in the UCI as an explicit indication.

[0105] If the PUSCH data has been transmitted with retransmission / HARQ scheme, at step S17, the gNB 102 determines the MCS level either from a pre-configuration of the HARQ scheme or by deriving the MCS level from the field of the received UCI multiplexed with the PUSCH transmission. Accordingly at step S17, the gNB 102 decodes the PUSCH data using the MCS level and according to the HARQ scheme. At step SI 8, according to the retransmission scheme, the gNB 102 may then allocate resources for transmitting a HARQ-ACK as appropriate depending on whether the PUSCH data can be decoded or not.

[0106] In another embodiment, the UE indicates explicitly a delta MCS level used for the CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission-less relative to the legacy MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmissions. For example, two or four delta MCS levels are configured semi-statically or indicated in the DCI for CG Type 2, from the same MCS table, and UE indicates one of the delta values (with 1- bit or 2-bits respectively). The MCS level for CG-PUSCH with retransmission-less is derived by applying a delta value from the legacy MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmissions. The 1- bit or 2-bits are carried by the UCI piggybacked on CG-PUSCH.

[0107] In another embodiment, the application of the delta value in deriving MCS level for retransmission-less CG-PUSCH is to subtract the MCS level for CG-PUSCH with retransmission by the delta value.

[0108] In another embodiment, the network can enable or disable to allow a UE to indicate a new MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission-less per CG configuration. In another embodiment, the network can enable or disable to allow a UE to indicate a new MCS level for CG-PUSCH with HARQ retransmission-less for all CG configurations.

[0109] According to the above explanation it will be appreciated that example embodiments can provide a method of communicating by a communications device via a wireless communications network, the method comprising selecting either a first modulation coding scheme, MCS, or a second MSC for encoding and transmitting uplink data using configured grant, CG, resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, of a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and transmitting the uplink data via the wireless access interface using the CG-PUSCH resources. The first MCS or the second MCS can be selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

[0110] It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and / or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and / or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

[0111] Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and / or processors.

[0112] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognise that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

[0113] The following numbered paragraphs provide further example aspects and features of the present technique:

[0114] Paragraph 1. A communications device for communicating via a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, wherein the uplink data is transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

[0115] Paragraph 2. A communications device of paragraph 1, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS used to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme.

[0116] Paragraph 3. A communications device of paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the selection of the first or the second MCS can be determined from the UCI.

[0117] Paragraph 4. A communications device of paragraph 3, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS is selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

[0118] Paragraph 5. A communications device of paragraph 3, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the subset of possible MCS values.

[0119] Paragraph 6. A communications device of any of paragraphs 1 to 5, wherein the control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive configuration information which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, and the configuration information provides an indication of at least the first MCS for retransmission-less and the second MCS for the retransmission scheme.

[0120] Paragraph 7. A communications device of any of paragraphs 2 to 6, wherein the first MCS is selected from a first plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS is selected from a second plurality of MCS values, the first plurality of MCS values forming part of a first table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, and the second plurality of MCS values forming part of a second table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, the first table being different to the second table.

[0121] Paragraph 8. A communications device of paragraph 7, wherein the first table and the second table are configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

[0122] Paragraph 9. A communications device of paragraphs 7 or 8, where the first MCS is defined by an index in the first table and the second MCS is the same index in the second table, and the indication of which of the first MCS or the second MCS is selected is an indication of the first table or the second table.

[0123] Paragraph 10. A communications device of any of paragraphs 2 to 6, wherein the first MCS is selected from a plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS is selected from the plurality of MCS values, the plurality of MCS values forming part of a table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmiting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0124] Paragraph 11. A communications device of paragraph 10, wherein the table is configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

[0125] Paragraph 12. A communications device of paragraph 6, wherein the retransmission scheme is a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme and the configuration information include configuration of the second MCS for the HARQ scheme, and the configuration information includes one or more delta values from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS and one of the delta values.

[0126] Paragraph 13. A communications device of paragraph 12, wherein if the uplink data is transmited as retransmission-less, the indication of the retransmission-less in the first data field of the UCI also indicates the delta value from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS.

[0127] Paragraph 14. A communications device of paragraph 12 or 13, wherein the second data field of the UCI includes an indication of the delta value for deriving the first MCS.

[0128] Paragraph 15. A communications device of any of paragraphs 12, 13 or 14, wherein the configuration information which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmiting the uplink data includes parameters for the HARQ scheme, the second MCS and the one or more delta values.

[0129] Paragraph 16. A communications device of any of paragraphs 12 to 15, wherein the configuration information is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmiting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface, each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions, and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data when used for one of the configured grant periodic occurrences of the plurality of transmission occasions for transmiting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

[0130] Paragraph 17. A communications device of any of paragraphs 12 to 15, wherein the configuration information is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmiting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data for all of the periodic configured grant occurrences each comprising the plurality of transmission occasions for transmiting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

[0131] Paragraph 18. An infrastructure equipment for forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from communications devices via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive uplink data transmited by a communications device via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmited by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmited in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, to determine based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decode the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS.

[0132] Paragraph 19. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 18, wherein the control circuitry is configured with the transceiver circuitry to receive the uplink data in the PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data was transmitted by the communications device as retransmissionless or according to the retransmission scheme, and to determine the selection of the first or the second MCS from the received UCI.

[0133] Paragraph 20. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 19, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS was selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

[0134] Paragraph 21. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 19, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data was transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the subset of possible MCS values.

[0135] Paragraph 22. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 18 to 21, wherein the control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit configuration information to the communications device which is used to configure the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for the communications device to transmit the uplink data, and the configuration information provides an indication of at least the first MCS for retransmission-less and the second MCS for the retransmission scheme.

[0136] Paragraph 23. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 20 to 22, wherein the first MCS was selected from a first plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS was selected from a second plurality of MCS values, the first plurality of MCS values forming part of a first table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, and the second plurality of MCS values forming part of a second table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, the first table being different to the second table.

[0137] Paragraph 24. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 23, wherein the first table and the second table are configured according to a 3 GPP standard TS 38.214.

[0138] Paragraph 25. An infrastructure equipment of paragraphs 23 or 24, where the first MCS is defined by an index in the first table and the second MCS is same index in the second table, and the indication of which of the first MCS or the second MCS is selected is an indication of the first table or the second table.

[0139] Paragraph 26. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 20 to 26, wherein the first MCS was selected from a plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS was selected from the plurality of MCS values, the plurality of MCS values forming part of a table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0140] Paragraph 27. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 26, wherein the table is configured according to a 3 GPP standard TS 38.214.

[0141] Paragraph 28. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 22, wherein the retransmission scheme is a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme and the configuration information includes configuration of the first MCS for the HARQ scheme, and the configuration information includes one or more delta values from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS and one of the delta values, and the control circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to determine the first MCS for retransmission-less uplink data from the configured second MCS and one of the delta values.

[0142] Paragraph 29. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 28, wherein if the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less, the control circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to determine the first MCS from the indication of the retransmission-less uplink data in the first data field of the UCI, which also indicates the delta value from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS.

[0143] Paragraph 30. An infrastructure equipment of paragraph 28 or 29, wherein the second data field of the UCI includes an indication of the delta value for deriving the first MCS from the second MCS.

[0144] Paragraph 31. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 28, 29 or 30, wherein the configuration information, which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, includes parameters for the HARQ scheme, the second MCS and the one or more delta values.

[0145] Paragraph 32. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 28 to 31, wherein the configuration information configures the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface, each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions, and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data when used for one of the configured grant periodic occurrences of the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

[0146] Paragraph 33. An infrastructure equipment of any of paragraphs 28 to 31, wherein the configuration information configures the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data for all of the periodic configured grant occurrences each comprising the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

[0147] Paragraph 34. A method of communicating by a communications device via a wireless communications network, the method comprising selecting either a first modulation coding scheme, MCS, or a second MSC for encoding and transmitting uplink data using configured grant, CG, resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, of a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and transmitting the uplink data via the wireless access interface using the CG-PUSCH resources, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS is selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

[0148] Paragraph 35. A method of paragraph 34, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS used to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme.

[0149] Paragraph 36. A method of paragraph 34 or 35, comprising transmitting the uplink data in the CG- PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the selection of the first or the second MCS can be determined from the UCI.

[0150] Paragraph 37. A method of paragraph 36, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS is selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

[0151] Paragraph 38. A communications device of paragraph 36, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the subset of possible MCS values.

[0152] Paragraph 39. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving uplink data transmitted by a communications device via a wireless access interface using configured grant, CG, resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmitted by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, determining based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decoding the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS. Paragraph 40. A method of paragraph 39, comprising receiving the uplink data in the CG-PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data was transmitted by the communications device as retransmissionless or according to the retransmission scheme, and determining the selection of the first or the second MCS from the received UCI.

[0153] Paragraph 41. A method of paragraph 40, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS was selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

[0154] Paragraph 42. A method of paragraph 40, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data was transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmissionless or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the sub-set of possible MCS values.

[0155] Paragraph 43. Circuitry for communicating via a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, wherein the uplink data is transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

[0156] Paragraph 44. Circuitry for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from communications devices via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive uplink data transmitted by a communications device via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmitted by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, to determine based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decode the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS.

[0157] REFERENCES

[0158] [1] Holma H. and Toskala A, “LTE for UMTS OFDMA and SC-FDMA based radio access”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009.

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[0014] RP-230786, “Updated WID on XR Enhancements for NR”, RAN#99

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[0015] European patent application number EP23166140.6 filed 31 March 2023

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[0016] European patent application number EP23172398.2 filed on 9 May 2023

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[0017] 3GPP TS 38.470

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[0018] 3GPP TS 38.473

[0175] 22

[0176] RECTIFIED SHEET (RULE 91) ISA / EP

Claims

CLAIMS1. A communications device for communicating via a wireless communications network, the communications device comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, wherein the uplink data is transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

2. A communications device of claim 1, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS used to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme.

3. A communications device of claim 1, wherein the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the selection of the first or the second MCS can be determined from the UCI.

4. A communications device of claim 3, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS is selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

5. A communications device of claim 3, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmissionless or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the sub-set of possible MCS values.

6. A communications device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive configuration information which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, and the configuration informationprovides an indication of at least the first MCS for retransmission-less and the second MCS for the retransmission scheme.

7. A communications device of claim 2, wherein the first MCS is selected from a first plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS is selected from a second plurality of MCS values, the first plurality of MCS values forming part of a first table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, and the second plurality of MCS values forming part of a second table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, the first table being different to the second table.

8. A communications device of claim 7, wherein the first table and the second table are configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

9. A communications device of claim 7, where the first MCS is defined by an index in the first table and the second MCS is the same index in the second table, and the indication of which of the first MCS or the second MCS is selected is an indication of the first table or the second table.

10. A communications device of claim 2, wherein the first MCS is selected from a plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS is selected from the plurality of MCS values, the plurality of MCS values forming part of a table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

11. A communications device of claim 10, wherein the table is configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

12. A communications device of claim 6, wherein the retransmission scheme is a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme and the configuration information include configuration of the second MCS for the HARQ scheme, and the configuration information includes one or more delta values from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS and one of the delta values.

13. A communications device of claim 12, wherein if the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less, the indication of the retransmission-less in the first data field of the UCI also indicates the delta value from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS.

14. A communications device of claim 12, wherein the second data field of the UCI includes an indication of the delta value for deriving the first MCS.

15. A communications device of claim 12, wherein the configuration information which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data includes parameters for the HARQ scheme, the second MCS and the one or more delta values.

16. A communications device of claim 12, wherein the configuration information is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG- PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface, each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions, and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data when used for one of the configured grant periodic occurrences of the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

17. A communications device of claim 12, wherein the configuration information is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG- PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data for all of the periodic configured grant occurrences each comprising the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

18. An infrastructure equipment for forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from communications devices via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive uplink data transmitted by a communications device via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmitted by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, to determine based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decode the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS.

19. An infrastructure equipment of claim 18, wherein the control circuitry is configured with the transceiver circuitryto receive the uplink data in the PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data was transmitted by the communications device as retransmissionless or according to the retransmission scheme, and to determine the selection of the first or the second MCS from the received UCI.

20. An infrastructure equipment of claim 19, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS was selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

21. An infrastructure equipment of claim 19, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data was transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmissionless or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the sub-set of possible MCS values.

22. An infrastructure equipment of claim 18, wherein the control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit configuration information to the communications device which is used to configure the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for the communications device to transmit the uplink data, and the configuration information provides an indication of at least the first MCS for retransmission-less and the second MCS for the retransmission scheme.

23. An infrastructure equipment of claim 20, wherein the first MCS was selected from a first plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS was selected from a second plurality of MCS values, the first plurality of MCS values forming part of a first table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, and the second plurality of MCS values forming part of a second table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network, the first table being different to the second table.

24. An infrastructure equipment of claim 23, wherein the first table and the second table are configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

25. An infrastructure equipment of claim 23, where the first MCS is defined by an index in the first table and the second MCS is same index in the second table, and the indication of which of the first MCS or the second MCS is selected is an indication of the first table or the second table.

26. An infrastructure equipment of claim 20, wherein the first MCS was selected from a plurality of MCS values, and the second MCS was selected from the plurality of MCS values, the plurality of MCS values forming part of a table of MCS values which are used for encoding and transmitting data via the wireless access interface between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

27. An infrastructure equipment of claim 26, wherein the table is configured according to a 3GPP standard TS 38.214.

28. An infrastructure equipment of claim 22, wherein the retransmission scheme is a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request, HARQ, scheme and the configuration information includes configuration of the first MCS for the HARQ scheme, and the configuration information includes one or more delta values from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS and one of the delta values, and the control circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to determine the first MCS for retransmission-less uplink data from the configured second MCS and one of the delta values.

29. An infrastructure equipment of claim 28, wherein if the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less, the control circuitry is configured to control the transceiver circuitry to determine the first MCS from the indication of the retransmission-less uplink data in the first data field of the UCI, which also indicates the delta value from which the first MCS can be derived from the second MCS.

30. An infrastructure equipment of claim 28, wherein the second data field of the UCI includes an indication of the delta value for deriving the first MCS from the second MCS.

31. An infrastructure equipment of claim 28, wherein the configuration information, which is used to configure the transceiver circuitry with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, includes parameters for the HARQ scheme, the second MCS and the one or more delta values.

32. An infrastructure equipment of claim 28, wherein the configuration information configures the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface, each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions, and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data when used for one of the configured grant periodic occurrences of the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

33. An infrastructure equipment of claim 28, wherein the configuration information configures the communications device with the CG-PUSCH for transmitting the uplink data, the CG-PUSCH including a periodic allocation of configured grant resources of the wireless access interface each comprising a plurality of transmission occasions and the configuration information enables or disables use of the first MCS for retransmission-less transmission of the uplink data for all of the periodicconfigured grant occurrences each comprising the plurality of transmission occasions for transmitting uplink data in the CG-PUSCH.

34. A method of communicating by a communications device via a wireless communications network, the method comprising selecting either a first modulation coding scheme, MCS, or a second MSC for encoding and transmitting uplink data using configured grant, CG, resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, of a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and transmitting the uplink data via the wireless access interface using the CG-PUSCH resources, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS is selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the CG-PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

35. A method of claim 34, wherein the first MCS or the second MCS used to transmit the uplink data can be identified from the transmitted uplink data based on whether the uplink data is transmitted as retransmission-less or according to whether the uplink data is transmitted with the retransmission scheme.

36. A method of claim 34, comprising transmitting the uplink data in the CG-PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data is being transmitted as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme and the selection of the first or the second MCS can be determined from the UCI.

37. A method of claim 36, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS is selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

38. A communications device of claim 36, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmissionless or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the sub-set of possible MCS values.

39. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the method comprisingreceiving uplink data transmitted by a communications device via a wireless access interface using configured grant, CG, resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmitted by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, determining based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decoding the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS.

40. A method of claim 39, comprising receiving the uplink data in the CG-PUSCH with uplink control information, UCI, which indicates whether the uplink data was transmitted by the communications device as retransmissionless or according to the retransmission scheme, and determining the selection of the first or the second MCS from the received UCI.

41. A method of claim 40, wherein the UCI includes a data field indicating whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, the field also indicating implicitly whether the first MCS was selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS is selected for the retransmission scheme.

42. A method of claim 40, wherein the UCI includes a first data field indicating whether the uplink data was transmitted in the PUSCH as retransmission-less or according to the retransmission scheme, and a second data field indicating the first MCS selected for retransmission-less or the second MCS for the retransmission scheme, and the first and the second MCS are selected from a sub-set of possible MCS values pre-configured from a plurality of possible MCS values, the second data field being used to indicate the first or the second MCS within the sub-set of possible MCS values.

43. Circuitry for communicating via a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to transmit uplink data via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, wherein the uplink data is transmitted according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in whichretransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following receipt of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received.

44. Circuitry for infrastructure equipment of a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit data to or receive data from communications devices via a wireless access interface provided by the wireless communications network, and control circuitry configured to control the transceiver circuitry to receive uplink data transmitted by a communications device via the wireless access interface using configured grant resources of a physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, which are configured by the wireless communications network, wherein the uplink data is transmitted by the communications device according to either a first or a second modulation coding scheme, MCS, the first MCS or the second MCS being selected by the communications device according to whether the uplink data is transmitted in the PUSCH according to either a retransmission-less scheme, in which retransmission of the uplink data is not used, or transmitted according to a retransmission scheme, in which the uplink data can be retransmitted following transmission by the transceiver circuitry of an indication that the uplink data was not correctly received, to determine based on the received uplink data transmitted by the communications device in the CG-PUSCH whether the uplink data has been transmitted according to a retransmission-less scheme or a retransmission scheme, and whether the first MCS or the second MCS was selected for transmitting the uplink data, and to decode the uplink data according to the determined first MCS or the second MCS.

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