Method and apparatus for flexible transmission on unlicensed spectrum

An apparatus comprising:

• a transmitter that transmits an uplink grant for scheduling uplink transmission;
• a processor that:
• determines, based on the uplink grant, at least one candidate starting position in a scheduled time slot for the uplink transmission, wherein a candidate starting position, among the at least one candidate starting position, is determined based on a location of a demodulation reference signal symbol;
• and
• determines, in the scheduled time slot, a starting position of the uplink transmission from the at least one candidate starting position;
• and
• a receiver that receives the uplink transmission in the scheduled time slot from the determined starting position.

A method comprising:

• receiving an uplink grant for scheduling uplink transmission;
• determining, based on the uplink grant, at least one candidate starting position in a scheduled time slot for the uplink transmission, wherein a candidate starting position, among the at least one candidate starting position, is determined based on a location of a demodulation reference signal symbol;
• determining a starting position for the uplink transmission from the at least one candidate starting position based on a result of performing a listen before talk procedure on the scheduled time slot;
• and
• starting the uplink transmission in the scheduled time slot from the determined starting position.