According to some embodiments, a method of performing a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) process comprises receiving, by a wireless device executing a HARQ process, a first transport block encoded according to a category type of the wireless device and a first modulation coding scheme; decoding, by the HARQ process, the first transport block using a number of soft bits N; receiving, by the wireless network element, a second transport block encoded according to the equipment type and a second modulation coding scheme different from the first modulation coding scheme; and decoding, by the HARQ process, the second transport block using the number of soft bits N.