Method of controlling a communications link

A method of operating an apparatus comprising a transmitter, the method comprising the apparatus:

• receiving from a receiver identification of at least one selected transmission parameter from a selected group of transmission parameters;
• receiving from the receiver, when there is a change of the selected group of transmission parameters, identification of the selected group of transmission parameters, wherein the selected group of transmission parameters is selected less frequently than the at least one selected transmission parameter is selected from the selected group of transmission parameters;
• based on the received identifications, determining a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) to be used for a communication link between the transmitter and the receiver;
• and
• transmitting to the receiver via the communication link using the determined modulation and coding scheme (MCS),
• wherein the group of transmission parameters is selected from a plurality of groups of transmission parameters, each group of transmission parameters comprising a strict subset of transmission parameters of a set of transmission parameters, and wherein at least one group of transmission parameters includes a plurality of transmission parameters.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a receiver;
• a processor operable to cause the apparatus to:
• estimate a quality of a communication link between a remote transmitter and the receiver,
• select a group of transmission parameters and at least one transmission parameter from the selected group of transmission parameters based on the determined quality of the communication link;
• send to the remote transmitter an identification of the at least one selected transmission parameter from the selected group of transmission parameters;
• and
• send to the remote transmitter an identification of the selected group of transmission parameters when the selected group of transmission parameters changes,
• wherein the group of transmission parameters is selected from a plurality of groups of transmission parameters, each group of transmission parameters comprising a strict subset of transmission parameters of a set of transmission parameters, and wherein at least one group of transmission parameters includes a plurality of transmission parameters.