Design and transmission of (e)pdcch within partial subframe in licensed assisted access (laa)

An apparatus configured to be employed within an Evolved NodeB (eNB), comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• generate a license assisted access (LAA) burst;
• generate one or more downlink control channel messages, wherein the one or more downlink control channel messages comprise at least one of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) messages or enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH) messages;
• generate a physical layer encoding of the LAA burst comprising a first partial subframe, wherein the first partial subframe comprises a physical layer encoding of the one or more downlink control channel messages;
• and
• output the first partial subframe comprising the physical layer encoding of the one or more control channel messages to transmitter circuitry for subsequent transmission via an unlicensed carrier.

A non-transitory machine readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause an evolved NodeB (eNB) to:

• generate a license assisted access (LAA) burst;
• generate a set of control channel messages comprising at least one of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) messages or enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH) messages;
• prepare a physical layer encoding of the LAA burst comprising a starting partial subframe, one or more complete subframes, and an ending partial subframe, wherein at least a subset of the set of control channel messages are embedded in the starting partial subframe;
• and
• transmit the physical layer encoding of the LAA burst on an unlicensed carrier, wherein the starting partial subframe comprises N symbols and is transmitted during the final N symbols of an associated subframe, wherein N is less than 14 when the associated subframe is associated with a normal cyclic prefix (CP), and wherein N is less than 12 when the associated subframe is associated with an extended CP.

An apparatus configured to be employed within a User Equipment (UE), comprising:

• a processor configured to:
• receive, via coupled receiver circuitry, a license assisted access (LAA) burst transmission comprising a first partial subframe, wherein the first partial subframe comprises at least one downlink control channel, wherein the at least one control channel is one or more of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH);
• determine at least one search space associated with the at least one of the PDCCH or the EPDCCH of the first partial subframe;
• and
• search the at least one search space for one or more downlink control information (DCI) messages associated with the UE.