Qualcomm designs new 5G RAN platforms to enable new-gen virtualized, interoperable cellular networks

Qualcomm Technologies has launched a full portfolio of 5G infrastructure semiconductor platforms designed for broad deployment scenarios, ranging from macro base stations with massive MIMO to micro base stations with compact designs, to accelerate the cellular ecosystem transition toward virtualized and interoperable radio access networks (RAN) – a trend driven by 5G.

Qualcomm Technologies is introducing three new 5G RAN platform offerings: Qualcomm Radio Unit Platform, Qualcomm Distributed Unit Platform, and Qualcomm Distributed Radio Unit Platform.

The new platforms, says Qualcomm, are purposely-designed from the ground up to support leading mobile operators in the deployment of a new generation of converged, open, and virtualized RAN (vRAN) networks.

These platforms are designed to enable infrastructure OEMs to transform public and private wireless networks into a platform for innovation and deliver on the full potential of 5G.

“Our 5G expertise and global technology leadership uniquely position Qualcomm Technologies to provide a comprehensive horizontal infrastructure platform to enable the deployment of innovative, high-performance, virtualized, and modular 5G networks at scale,” said Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm Incorporated. “We are working closely with mobile operators, network equipment vendors, standards bodies, and other key stakeholders to make the deployments of these networks a reality.”

Qualcomm has said that the portfolio of 5G RAN platforms is designed to allow established and emerging network vendors to accelerate deployment and commercialization of vRAN equipment and features that address the demands of 5G for both public and private networks.

The new platforms offer a fully scalable and highly flexible architecture that supports all 5G functional split options between Distributed Unit (DU) and Radio Unit (RU) for macro and micro deployments – complementing the Company’s current 5G RAN platform offerings for small cells.

The new solutions build on Qualcomm Technologies’ pioneering wireless expertise and heritage delivering technology for cellular infrastructure, dating back to the commercialization of 3G network equipment in the 1990’s and 2000’s to the provision of cellular chipsets for small cells over the last decade. Qualcomm Technologies’ infrastructure solutions already power the world’s first at-scale deployment of vRAN by Rakuten Mobile in Japan.

Key highlights of the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platforms portfolio:

• From Macro to Small Cells: The solutions offer scalable support for a wide range of infrastructure categories ranging from macro base stations with massive MIMO to small cells.
• High-performance Modem-RF: Designed for superior radio performance including high-power, high capacity operation, the Qualcomm 5G RAN Platforms feature a comprehensive 5G Modem-RF System including baseband, transceiver, front-end, and antenna panels.
• Enabling high performance virtualized products with integrated hardware acceleration: Flexible vRAN architecture with hardware accelerators for modem and fronthaul processing designed to enable high throughput low latency network processing for superior power-efficiency and compact equipment designs.
• Flexible, scalable, interoperable interfaces: Support for all key 5G functional split options between Distributed Unit (DU) and Radio Unit (RU), to allow for the disaggregation of the RAN into standards-based and interoperable modular components.
• Integrated Sub-6 and mmWave solution: Natively integrated Sub-6 GHz and mmWave concurrent baseband support in the Distributed Unit along with global support for 5G sub-6 GHz, mmWave, and 4G bands in the Radio Unit.