Qualcomm Announces New Features in Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System for Global 5G Expansion

Qualcomm Technologies announced new, upgraded features and capabilities to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G Modem-RF System on Wednesday.

Qualcomm Brings New Features to Modem for Global Expansion

The chipmaker said in a statement that the upgrades build upon the fourth generation 5G modem-to-antenna solution. Incidentally, the X65 is the first 10 Gigabit 5G and the first 3GPP release 16 modem-RF system. As such, the software-upgradeable architecture allows future-proofing of solutions powered by the Snapdragon X65 which supports and enables acceleration of 5G expansion, while enhancing coverage, power efficiency and performance for users.

These upgrades also include improved power efficiency and support for wider mmWave carriers. Furthermore, new features within the upgradeable architecture of Snapdragon X65 also include the following.

Extended mmWave Capabilities

The X65 will have extended mmWave support for global expansion. The modem will also support wider 200 MHz carrier bandwidth in the mmWave, along with mmWave support in standalone (SA) mode.

Notably, over 150 global operators are investing in mmWave frequencies. As such, the mmWave features lay the foundation for driving upcoming 5G mmWave rollout in China and other regions.

The Snapdragon X65 supports up to 1 GHz of mmWave and 300 MHz of sub-6 GHz across FDD and TDD. This allows for unprecedented 5G capacity for networks, and blazing 5G speeds for users.

Improved power efficiency

The X65 comes with support for all-day battery life. This enables significantly better performance through new power-saving technologies within Qualcomm 5G PowerSave 2.0.

Featuring Release 16 UE-Assisted Information (UAI), a power efficiency enhancing technique, the device and base station can now exchange critical information to dynamically and efficiently manage various connection parameters. These parameters include number of carriers, allocated bandwidth, layers and thermal performance. This helps the device to optimize network resources for the particular ongoing application or context.

Durga Malladi, Senior VP and GM, 4G/5G, said, “the Snapdragon X65 is leading the way in the 10 Gigabit 5G era, and defining what’s possible by expanding coverage and capacity, power efficiency and superior performance for the end user.”

She further added, “Qualcomm Technologies pioneered 5G with mmWave delivering extreme capacity, ultra-high throughput and low latency to reshape mobile experiences. We look forward to working with all key players in the ecosystem to expand 5G globally and extend business opportunities across industries.”

Why it is Important

Lastly, the X65 is based on a software-upgradable architecture. This allows for enhancements and expandability across 5G segments. Also, this makes the modem capable of enabling new features, capabilities, and rapid rollout of the new 3GPP Release 16.

The enhancements are especially key as 5G expands globally, including the anticipated rollout of ultra-fast 5G mmWave in China and other regions, and extends into other verticals such as compute, industrial IoT and fixed wireless access.