SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION IN STANDALONE SYSTEMS

Embodiments of sounding reference signal transmission in standalone systems are generally described herein. An exemplary apparatus of User Equipment (UE) may include memory, and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry to decode a request for transmission of a sounding reference signal (SRS) in unlicensed spectrum. The transmission is facilitated via license-assisted access (LAA). The processing circuitry further to perform a modified listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure, and in response to a clear channel assessment (CCA) made as part of the modified LBT procedure, encode the SRS for transmission. The processing circuitry further to decode an uplink (UL) grant, received via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), that includes assigned UL resources, wherein the assigned UL resources are based on the SRS.