Embodiments of a User Equipment (UE) and methods for packet based device-to-device (D2D) discovery in an LTE network are generally described herein. In some embodiments, UE may be enabled for proximity services and may be configured to receive signaling from an enhanced node B (eNB) indicating resources allocated for D2D discovery. The UE may configure a discovery packet in accordance with a predetermined configuration to have at least a discovery payload and a cyclic-redundancy check (CRC). The discovery payload may include discovery-related content. The UE may be configured to transmit the discovery packet on at least some of the indicated resources for receipt by a receiving UE. In some embodiments, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) may be selected to indicate a payload size and/or MCS of the discovery packet's payload.