Systems, methods and devices for opportunistic networking

An apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) node, comprising:

• a first wireless interface coupled to a transmitter using a licensed assisted access (LAA) band;
• a processor configured to:
• select a first subframe for discovery measurement timing for a LAA discovery signal, wherein the first subframe contains a primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS) and cell-specific reference signals (CRS);
• generate a periodic LAA discovery signal based at least in part on the discovery measurement timing and the first subframe;
• and
• provide the periodic LAA discovery signal for transmission using the first wireless interface.

A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by a processor to perform operations of a radio access network (RAN) node, the operations, when executed by the processor, to perform a method, the method comprising:

• selecting a first occurring subframe of a discovery signal period for a licensed assisted access (LAA) discovery signal;
• generating a non-empty subframe including the LAA discovery signal, a primary synchronization signal and a secondary synchronization signal;
• and
• encoding the non-empty subframe for transmission at a time of the first occurring subframe of the discovery signal period.