Qualcomm tips 28GHz 5G chip

The Snapdragon X50 will be used in 5G cellular trials by Verizon and Korea Telecom.

Qualcomm has announced plans for a 28GHz modem that will be used in separate pre-standard 5G cellular trials by Verizon and Korea Telecom. The news is the latest indication some vendors want to speed up the rollout of elements of 5G, a move one source said comes "at the expense of innovation."

The Snapdragon X50 delivers 5Gbps downlinks and multiple gigabit uplinks for mobile and fixed-wireless networks. It uses a separate LTE connection as an anchor for control signals, while the 28GHz link delivers the higher data rates over distances of tens to hundreds of meters.

The X50 uses an 800MHz channel, a 2x2 MIMO antenna array, adaptive beamforming techniques and 256 QAM to achieve a 90dB link budget. It works in conjunction with Qualcomm's SDR05x mmWave transceiver and PMX50 power management chip. So far, Qualcomm is not revealing more details of the modem that will sample next year and be in production before June 2018.

Verizon and Korea Telecom will use the chips in separate trials starting late next year, anticipating commercial services in 2018. The new chips mark a departure from prototypes not intended as products that Qualcomm Research announced in June.

To read the full article, go to EE Times.