Flexible multiplexing of users with difference requirements in a 5G frame structure

A communications device for transmitting data to or receiving data from a mobile communications network, the communications device comprising:

• a transmitter configured to transmit signals to one or more infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network via a wireless access interface,
• a receiver configured to receive signals from one or more of the infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface, and
• a controller configured to control the transmitter and the receiver to transmit the signals and to receive the signals via the wireless access interface, wherein the wireless access interface is configured to allocate physical communications resources to provide different radio access techniques to different types of devices, the different radio access techniques providing different virtual RAT interfaces comprising different communications parameters for different types of communications for different communications devices.

A method of communicating data to a communications device via a wireless communications network, the method comprising:

• receiving signals from one or more of the infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface, the wireless access interface providing communications resources arranged in time divided units of a host radio access technology, RAT, frequency bandwidth, the time divided units and the host RAT interface frequency bandwidth being arranged into one or more virtual RAT interfaces, and the receiving comprises
• selecting one of the virtual RAT interfaces, and
• receiving the signals transmitted via the virtual RAT interface in accordance with different communications parameters from the host RAT interface providing different characteristics for communicating data represented by the signals with respect to a characteristic of signals transmitted according to communications parameters in the communications resources of the host RAT interface.