Enhancements to modulation order determination

A method for wireless communications by a user equipment (UE), comprising:

• receiving downlink control information (DCI) that includes a resource allocation for a communication, the DCI includes a field that indicates a transport block size (TBS) of the communication, wherein the communication includes a transmission or a reception;
• determining a number of resource elements (REs) for the communication based at least on the resource allocation;
• determining a modulation order for the communication based on the number of REs and the TBS;
• and
• processing the communication according to the determined modulation order.

A method for wireless communications by a base station (BS), comprising:

• transmitting a downlink control information (DCI) that includes a resource allocation for a communication, the DCI includes a field that indicates a transport block size (TBS) of the communication, wherein the communication includes a transmission or a reception;
• and
• determining a number of resource elements (REs) for the communication based at least on the resource allocation;
• determining a modulation order for the communication based on the number or REs and the TBS;
• and
• processing the communication according to the determined modulation order.