The disclosure describes design of a synchronization signal (SS) block for an unlicensed carrier, and listen before talk (LBT) strategies for initial access. An apparatus of a radio access network (RAN) is disclosed. The apparatus includes baseband circuitry that includes one or more processors and a radio frequency (RF) interface. The one or more processors are to generate, for user equipment (UE) operating on a licensed assisted access (LAA) secondary cell (SCell), a data sequence associated with an SS block. The SS block includes a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS), but does not include a physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The RF interface is to receive the data sequence from the one or more processors.