Uplink channel access, reservation and data transmission for licensed assist access long term evolution (LAA-LTE)

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter configured to transmit wireless transmissions over a shared spectrum;
• a receiver configured to receive wireless signals in the shared spectrum;
• a modem configured to modulate signals to be transmitted and demodulate received signals;
• and
• a processor configured to:
• obtain data to be wirelessly transmitted over the shared spectrum in an uplink channel to a base station, the uplink channel comprising a plurality of frames and subframes with a predetermined timing;
• obtain, via the receiver, an indication of predetermined subframes within the uplink channel for the transmitter to transmit to the base station;
• determine whether the shared spectrum is free for transmission according to a listen before transmit procedure;
• responsive to a determination that the shared spectrum is free for transmission during the predetermined subframes, contend with mobile devices in proximity to the apparatus to gain access to transmit in the predetermined subframes of the uplink channel;
• and
• after gaining access to the uplink channel, cause the transmitter to transmit the data over the shared spectrum in the predetermined subframes of the uplink channel to the base station.

One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with software comprising computer executable instructions and, when the software is executed by a processor on a mobile device, operable to cause the processor to:

• obtain data to be wirelessly transmitted over a shared spectrum in an uplink channel to a base station, the uplink channel comprising a plurality of frames and subframes with a predetermined timing;
• obtain an indication of predetermined subframes within the uplink channel for the mobile device to transmit to the base station;
• determine whether the shared spectrum is free for transmission according to a listen before transmit procedure;
• responsive to a determination that the shared spectrum is free for transmission during the predetermined subframes, contend with other mobile devices to gain access to transmit in the predetermined subframes of the uplink channel;
• and
• after gaining access to the uplink channel, transmit the data over the shared spectrum in the predetermined subframes of the uplink channel to the base station.