Communication device, infrastructure equipment and methods

An infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network for transmitting data to a communications device, the infrastructure equipment comprising

• receiver circuitry configured to receive signals transmitted from the communications device via a wireless access interface provided by the infrastructure equipment,
• transmitter circuitry configured to transmit signals to the communications device via the wireless access to the infrastructure equipment, and
• controller circuitry configured to control the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry
• to transmit the data represented as signals via the wireless access interface to the communications device in accordance with an automatic repeat request, ARQ, type protocol in which the data is transmitted as a plurality of encoded data packets, each encoded data packet being transmitted as a radio signal comprising a control signal component transmitted in control channel resources (PDCCH) followed by a data signal component transmitted within shared channel resources (PDSCH) of the wireless access interface, the control signal component transmitted in the control channel carrying information for detecting or decoding the data from the encoded data packet transmitted in the shared channel representing the encoded data packet, wherein the controller circuitry is configured with the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry
• to determine that the control signal component of an encoded data packet was not received by the communications device, and
• for the encoded data packet which has been determined as not having been received, to transmit a subsequent control signal component in the control channel resources, after the data signal component representing the encoded data packet, which includes information identifying at least a temporal location of the encoded data previously transmitted in the shared channel.

A method of receiving data at a communications device from a wireless communications network, the method comprising

• receiving the data represented as signals from the wireless access interface in accordance with an automatic repeat request, ARQ, type protocol in which the data is transmitted to the communications device as a plurality of encoded data packets, each encoded data packet being transmitted as a radio signal comprising a control signal component in control channel resources (PDCCH) followed by a data signal component transmitted within shared channel resources (PDSCH) of the wireless access interface, the control signal component transmitted in the control channel carrying information for detecting or decoding the data from the encoded data packet transmitted in the shared channel representing the encoded data packet,
• storing, in a receiver buffer, a predetermined temporal period of samples of received signals which includes at least one or both of the data signal component transmitted in the shared resources or the control signal component transmitted in the control channel,
• receiving a subsequent control signal component transmitted in the control channel resources, after the data signal component representing the encoded data packet, which includes information identifying at least a temporal location of the data signal component representing the encoded data packet previously transmitted in the shared channel resources and stored in the receiver buffer, and
• detecting and decoding the encoded data packet transmitted in the shared channel resources using the information identifying at least the temporal location of the data signal component representing the encoded data packet in the receiver buffer.