The QTM052 mmWave antenna module pairs with the company’s X50 5G modem to enable connectivity across different spectrum bands.
Qualcomm has unveiled its new 5G NR millimeter wave (mmWave) and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices. The company has unveiled the QTM052 mmWave antenna module, along with the Qualcomm QPM56xx sub-6 GHz RF module, both of which pair with the company’s X50 5G modem for delivering connectivity across different spectrum bands. This development is important because even as mmWave signals deliver impressive faster speeds, they are unused because of shorter range of transmission and as they can be very easily blocked due to walls. To mitigate the issue, Qualcomm says that the QTM052 mmWave antenna modules support advanced beam forming, beam steering, and beam tracking technologies. These are said to “drastically” improve the range and reliability of mmWave signals.
The modules also feature an integrated 5G NR radio transceiver, power management IC, RF front-end components and phased antenna array. The antenna arrays make use of four antennas, which can be integrated into a smartphone for better signal delivery. “Qualcomm Technologies’ early investment in 5G has allowed us to deliver to the industry a working mobile mmWave solution that was previously thought unattainable, as well as a fully-integrated sub-6 GHz RF solution. Now, these type of modem-to-antenna solutions, spanning both mmWave and sub-6 spectrum bands, make mobile 5G networks and devices, especially smartphones, ready for large-scale commercialization,” said Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm Incorporated. “With 5G, consumers can expect gigabit-class Internet speeds with unprecedented responsiveness in the palm of their hands, which stand to revolutionize the mobile experience.”
The company says that devices with the new modules can be expected to launch by the first half of 2019. However, users in India might have to wait a while before they can get to experience an actual 5G network. Since it took so long for 3G and 4G services to gain momentum in India, the Ministry of Telecom said that 5G will probably be rolled out in India by 2020. We can certainly hope for 5G networks to be up and running by the end of next year as Ericsson has been testing its 5G technology in India and Airtel has also announced that it will set up Massive MIMO infrastructure, which is required to power 5G.
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Shubham Sharma
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