Partial uplink subframe transmissions on unlicensed carriers

1. An apparatus of a user equipment (UE), operable for an uplink partial subframe transmission on an unlicensed carrier, the apparatus comprising: one or more processors configured to: select a plurality of uplink (UL) partial subframe configurations based on prospective lengths of a listen before talk (LBT) period, wherein each prospective length of the LBT period provides a prospective starting time; encode data for selected ones of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations, skipping one or more encodings based on a random counter, to form a plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings for a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) identification (ID) according to different starting positions of the prospective lengths; associate each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings with a selected prospective starting time, wherein each selected prospective starting time is associated with a different encoding; identify an actual LBT period; select one of the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings for UL transmission of the data on the unlicensed carrier based on the actual LBT period and a corresponding selected prospective starting time; and a memory interface configured to store in a memory the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations.

2. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations for transmission in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

3. The apparatus of the UE of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the data in the PUSCH with a symbol duration of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 symbols in a UL partial subframe.

4. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations, wherein each UL partial subframe configuration is based on a symbol level UL partial subframe or a slot level UL partial subframe.

5. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings enables a use of UL partial subframes to provide UL to downlink (DL) switching between subframes.

6. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings enables a use of UL partial subframes to create a variable length LBT period prior to a transmission of data.

7. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations for transmission immediately following a variable length LBT period.

8. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the variable length LBT period is a category 4 (CAT-4) LBT.

9. The apparatus of the UE of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations for a grantless UL transmission.

10. At least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium having instructions embodied thereon for a user equipment (UE) configured to operate for an uplink partial subframe transmission on an unlicensed carrier, the instruction when executed by one or more processors at the UE perform the following: select a plurality of uplink (UL) partial subframe configurations based on prospective lengths of a listen before talk (LBT) period, wherein each prospective length of the LBT period provides a prospective starting time; encode data for selected ones of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations, skipping one or more encodings based on a random counter, to form a plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings for a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) identification (ID) according to different starting positions of the prospective lengths; associate each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings with a selected prospective starting time, wherein each selected prospective starting time is associated with a different encoding; identify an actual LBT period; and select one of the plurality of UL partial subframe configuration encodings for UL transmission of the data on the unlicensed carrier based on the actual LBT period and a corresponding selected prospective starting time.

11. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 10 further comprising instructions, that when executed by one or more processors at the UE, perform the following:

encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations for transmission in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

12. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 10 further comprising instructions, that when executed by one or more processors at the UE, perform the following:

encode the data in the PUSCH with a symbol duration of 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 symbols in a UL partial subframe.

13. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 10 further comprising instructions, that when executed by one or more processors at the UE, perform the following:

encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations, wherein each UL partial subframe configuration is based on a symbol level UL partial subframe or a slot level UL partial subframe.

14. The at least one non-transitory machine readable storage medium in claim 10 further comprising instructions, that when executed by one or more processors at the UE, perform the following:

encode the data for each of the plurality of UL partial subframe configurations for transmission immediately following a variable length LBT period.