Abstract: A method for transmitting data packets between a transmitter and a receiver unit in a communication system is described. For transmitting data packets a transmission mode is selected from a plurality of available transmission modes and an automatic repeat request for retransmission is used. Therefore for each available transmission mode a channel parameter based on link quality is calculated and a transmission capacity parameter is determinated. The state of the automatic repeat request control window for at least one transceiver is identified. For each available transmission mode an estimation of the user quality value based on the channel parameter, the transmission capacity parameter and the state of the automatic repeat request control window from at least one transceiver is estimated. The transmission mode that provides the best user quality value is selected.