Qualcomm has unveiled its second-generation 5G modem, a week before MWC. The Snapdragon X55 5G modem supports 5G NR mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands and can deliver speeds of up to 7 Gbps over 5G and 2.5 Gbps on Cat 22 LTE. It is expected to appear in the first commercial devices in late 2019.
The first phones running Qualcomm's first 5G modem, the X50 are expected to appear at MWC next week. The new modem expands the range of spectrum supported, including both mmWave and sub-6 Ghz ranges and TDD and FCC modes. It is capable of both 5G New Radio Standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network deployments and is engineered to support dynamic spectrum sharing between 4G and 5G.
Support for new bands, power efficiency
The Snapdragon X55 5G modem pairs with the newly announced 5G mmWave antenna module (QTM525). The QTM525 builds on Qualcomm's first mmWave antenna module by reducing the height to support 5G smartphone designs sleeker than 8mm thick, as well as adding support for band n258 (24.25-27.5 GHz) for North America, Europe and Australia. The previous generation already supported the bands 26.5-29.5 GHz, 37-40 GHz and 27.5-28.35 GHz.
To help device makers address the growing number of antennas and frequency range support with 5G, Qualcomm Technologies has also introduced the QAT3555 Signal Boost adaptive antenna tuner, extending adaptive antenna tuning technology to 5G bands up to 6 GHz.
Qualcomm is also launching its first 5G 100MHz envelope tracking solution. The QET6100 extends envelope tracking to the wide 100 MHz uplink bandwidth and 256-QAM modulation needed for 5G NR. This can achieve up to double the power efficiency compared to the alternative average power tracking technology, enabling faster devices with long battery life, as well as significant improvements in network coverage and capacity, the company said.
Qualcomm said the Snapdragon X55 is designed to bring 5G to a broad range of devices, including premium smartphones, mobile hotspots, 'Always Connected' PCs, laptops, tablets, fixed wireless access points, extended reality devices, and automotive applications. The new modem is currently sampling to customers and expected to be in commercial devices by late 2019.
5G demos at MWC
At MWC in Barcelona, Qualcomm will demonstrate applications with its first-generation X50 modem, such as an extended reality consumer experience. This highlights how on-device processing can be augmented by additional edge cloud processing over a low-latency 5G link. In addition, the company will preview some of the enhancements expected in 5G NR when 3GPP Release 16 is released in the next year, such as enhanced massive MIMO operations and device power-saving features.
Other demos planned for MWC include indoor use cases for 5G NR mmWave, at high-density venues and private enterprise; ultra-low latency in Release 16 for industrial IoT applications; use of shared and unlicensed spectrum for local private 5G networks; and the latest evolution in C-V2X communications.
