A method, system, and base station for deterministically selecting a downlink transmission mode and rank in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) configured wireless communication system. The Transmission Mode Selection (TMS) utility receives from a wireless device a request for downlink physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) service using a particular transmission mode and specific rank. The TMS utility determines an estimate of the throughput corresponding to the request. In addition, the TMS utility obtains throughput estimates of other distinct pairings of transmission mode and rank to compare with the throughput estimate corresponding to the request. The TMS utility utilizes device feedback information and HARQ error information that are already existing/available in order to determine the best transmission mode and rank pair, according to the best Error-Adjusted-Throughput.