Method and apparatus for initial access block on stand-alone NR unlicensed spectrum

A user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the UE comprising:

• at least one processor configured to:
• identify a discovery signals and channels (DSCH) transmission timing configuration (DTTC) including a first periodicity, a duration of a first transmission window, and a first timing offset of the first transmission window, wherein the DTTC is identified for the DSCH and radio link monitoring (RLM) in a serving cell;
• and
• identify a DSCH measurement timing configuration (DMTC) including a second periodicity, a duration of a second transmission window, and a second timing offset of the second transmission window, the second transmission window separate from the first transmission time window, wherein the DMTC is identified for radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on the DSCH;
• and
• a transceiver operably connected to the processor, the transceiver configured to receive, from a base station (BS), at least one DSCH from a set of DSCH over unlicensed downlink channels based on the identified DTTC, wherein the received at least one DSCH includes a synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block.

A method of base station (BS) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:

• identifying a set of discovery signals and channels (DSCH) including a set of synchronization signals and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) blocks;
• identifying a DSCH transmission timing configuration (DTTC) including a first periodicity, a duration of a first transmission window, and a first timing offset of the first transmission window, wherein the DTTC is identified for a transmission of the set of DSCH and radio link monitoring (RLM) in a serving cell;
• identifying a DSCH measurement timing configuration (DMTC) including a second periodicity, a duration of a second transmission window, and a second timing offset of the second transmission window, the second transmission window separate from the first transmission time window, wherein the DMTC is identified for radio resource management (RRM) measurement based on the set of DSCH;
• performing a channel access procedure based on listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure for the set of DSCH based on the identified DTTC;
• and
• transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), the set of DSCH over unlicensed downlink channels based on the LBT procedure.