What is meant by the MCS rate?

MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) defines how many useful bits can be transmitted per Resource Element (RE) . MCS depends on radio link quality. The better quality the higher MCS and the more useful data can be transmitted.

The Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS) index is an existing industry metric based on several parameters of a Wi-Fi connection between a client device and a wireless access point, including data rate, channel width, and the number of antennas or spatial streams in the device.

For any communication technology, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) defines the numbers of useful bits which can carried by one symbol . In contrast with 5G or 4G, a symbol is defined as Resource Element (RE) and MCS defined as how many useful bits can be transmitted per Resource Element (RE) .

In a nutshell, an MCS table is a lookup that can be used to find which data rate will be negotiated between two stations once all the connection parameters are known . For each possible combination of modulation, coding rate, number of spatial streams, channel width, and guard interval, there is a unique MCS index.