Multiple starting and ending positions for scheduled or autonomous uplink transmission in unlicensed spectrum

This document describes systems and methods that relate to multiple candidate starting points for a transmission burst in unlicensed spectrum. In some embodiments, a method of operating a radio access node to perform a transmission burst in an unlicensed spectrum comprises transmitting a transmission burst in an unlicensed spectrum, wherein the transmission burst spans multiple subframes/slots and transmission of the transmission burst begins at one of a plurality of candidate start points defined in at least a first subframe/slot of the transmission burst that occurs after completion successfully perform a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure for the transmission burst. In this way, a radio access node (e.g., an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in Long Term Evolution (LTE)) has flexibility to transmit a downlink transmission burst starting at different starting positions in depending on the LBT result. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)