Mechanism for 256-QAM capable user equipment to operate seamlessly with a node

1. An apparatus comprising a processing circuitry, the processing circuitry to:

demodulate, by a demodulator, a message, wherein the message is to indicate switching to a 256-quadradture amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme from an existing non-256-QAM scheme;

a memory to store soft channel bits such that a number of the soft channel bits for using the 256-QAM scheme is substantially equal to a number of the soft channel bits while a user equipment (UE) is using the existing non-256-QAM scheme, wherein the existing non-256-QAM scheme is to support a maximum number of 2 or 4 layers for spatial multiplexing in downlink; and

logic to discard a greater number of parity bits for modulation and coding scheme (MCS) when the UE is configured to apply the 256-QAM scheme than a number of parity bits for MCS that are discarded when the UE is configured to apply a non-256-QAM scheme.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising logic to process a transport block associated with the 256-QAM scheme, wherein the transport block has a size larger than a transport block size of the existing non-256-QAM scheme.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising the demodulator to demodulate signal on a Physical downlink signal channel (PDSCH) after a radio resource control (RRC) configuration of the 256-QAM scheme.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the message is provided over a radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the message is performed over a media access control (MAC) layer signaling.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising another memory having a usage size which is the same as a usage size of the memory while the UE is not operating on the 256-QAM scheme.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising a processor, which is operable to process signals on a Physical downlink signal channel (PDSCH) in accordance to downlink physical layer parameter values associated with the 256-QAM scheme.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a maximum coding rate of a mother code associated with the 256-QAM scheme is higher than the maximum coding rate associated with the existing non-256-QAM scheme.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a rate matching pattern remains the same after switching to the 256-QAM scheme.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to perform an operation comprising:

demodulating, by a demodulator, a message, wherein the message is to indicate switching to a 256-quadradture amplitude modulation (QAM) scheme from an existing non-256-QAM scheme;

storing soft channel bits in a memory such that a number of the soft channel bits for using the 256-QAM scheme is substantially equal to a number of the soft channel bits while the user equipment is using the existing non-256-QAM scheme, wherein the existing non-256-QAM scheme is to support a maximum number of 2 or 4 layers for spatial multiplexing in downlink; and

discarding a greater number of parity bits for modulation and coding scheme (MCS) when the UE is configured to apply the 256-QAM scheme than a number of parity bits for MCS that are discarded when the UE is configured to apply a non-256-QAM scheme.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 having further instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors of the UE to perform a further operation comprising processing a transport block associated with the 256-QAM scheme, wherein the transport block has a size larger than a transport block size of the existing non-256-QAM scheme.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 having further instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors of the UE to perform a further operation comprising demodulating signal on a Physical downlink signal channel (PDSCH) after a radio resource control (RRC) configuration of the 256-QAM scheme.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 , wherein the message is provided over a radio resource control (RRC) layer signaling.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 , wherein the message is provided over a media access control (MAC) layer signaling.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 having further instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors of the UE to perform a further operation comprising storing the soft channel bits in another memory having a usage size which is the same as a usage size of the memory while the UE is not operating on the 256-QAM scheme.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 having further instructions that when executed cause the one or more processors of the UE to perform a further operation comprising processing signals on a Physical downlink signal channel (PDSCH) in accordance to downlink physical layer parameter values associated with the 256-QAM scheme.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 , wherein a maximum coding rate of a mother code associated with the 256-QAM scheme is higher than the maximum coding rate associated with the existing non-256-QAM scheme.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage media of claim 10 , wherein a rate matching pattern remains the same after switching to the 256-QAM scheme.