"Today, Qualcomm introduced the second generation 5g modem snapdragon x55. The chip is a follow-up to snapdragon X50, which has brought some significant improvements. X50 was launched in October 2016 and supports 5Gbps download speed. The snapdragon x55 released today will support speeds of up to 7gbps. Through Xiaolong x55, we should see three key points of 5g era: 5g high complexity, overall scheme and application scenario are no longer limited.
However, although snapdragon X50 was launched two years ago, it did not enter the real world. The snapdragon 855 device to be launched this year, combined with x55 modem, constitutes Qualcomm's 5g platform in 2019.
In addition to the speed improvement, another main feature is that the x55 adopts a 7Nm process and supports 4G LTE speeds up to 2.5Gbps downward. This is very important because the devices you will see this year will support both 4G and 5g. When the latter is not available, 5g will need to fall back to 4G. Now, it can be done on the same chip.
X55 will be integrated into most flagship models with Qualcomm solutions by 2020, which means that all flagship phones will support 5g by then.
Snapdragon x55 supports global frequency bands, including frequency bands below 6GHz and millimeter wave. It will be paired with Qualcomm's second-generation antennas, which have also been announced to be less than 8mm thick.
High complexity of 5g Technology
Communication technology has evolved from the first generation to the fifth generation. With the improvement of performance, higher complexity comes not only from the new technology itself, but also from the downward compatibility of new technologies. Therefore, Qualcomm's second-generation 5g modem Xiaolong x55 emphasizes supporting 5g to 2G multimode, almost all frequency bands and regions, and of course, very high download and upload speeds.
Specifically, in 5g mode, Xiaolong x55 can achieve a download speed of up to 7gbps and an upload speed of up to 3gbps; At the same time, category 22 LTE is supported to bring the download speed up to 2.5 Gbps. Xiaolong x55 supports all major frequency bands in the world, whether millimeter wave band or band below 6 GHz; Support TDD and FDD operation modes; Support independent (SA) and non independent (NSA) network deployment.
In addition, in addition to supporting the deployment of the frequency band to be developed allocated to 5g, Xiaolong x55 modem also has two technical features worthy of attention. One is 4G / 5G spectrum sharing, that is, in the same cell, Xiaolong x55 can share the overlapping spectrum of 4G and 5g at the same time; The second is full-dimensional MIMO. With the support of this technology, in addition to the horizontal direction, the antenna array of the cell can also carry out beamforming and beam guidance in the vertical direction, so as to improve the coverage and efficiency of the whole space.
In short, 5g modem should not only support different 5g spectrum, different operation modes and different deployment modes, but also be compatible with 4G technology.
Why is 5g modem designed so complex? Shen Lei, senior director of Qualcomm's product market, told the media: "in the first year of 4G deployment in 2010, there were no more than five operators globally committed to deploying 4G, which were deployed only in a few cities, and there were no more than five 4G terminal products available for testing and use. However, in the first year of 5g deployment, more than 20 global mainstream operators promised to deploy and launch 5g services, and more than 20 global leading OEMs promised to release 5g terminals. "
Therefore, the new generation of communication technology itself means more technical challenges, and the delay in determining the 5g standard increases the difficulty in the research and development and testing of 5g modems. At the same time, there are more participants in 5g commercial deployment, which means that different regions and companies have different needs for 5g modems. Moreover, the 4G era has realized the multi-band and multi-mode support of a single device. 5g modems want to be recognized by the market all over the world. Even if the complexity is high and difficult, the comprehensive support of 5g multi-spectrum and multi-mode can not be avoided.
Shen Lei also pointed out that with the deployment of core network and access network (RAN) and the maturity of base station and core network equipment, 5g also includes deployment forms such as independent Networking (SA) and non independent Networking (NSA). Under the NSA mode, 5g and 4G must work together. At present, the number of dual connected frequency band combinations can reach hundreds of thousands, It brings high complexity. Therefore, the technical difficulty of 4G and 5g is different.
Throughout the terminal 5g modems that have been released, whether Huawei Baron 5000, Intel XMM 8160, MediaTek Helio M70 or Samsung exynos modem 5100, they all emphasize multimode, support SA and NSA, achieve 5g high rate and downward compatibility with 2G / 3G / 4G networks.
Among them, Qualcomm once again took the lead, announced the launch of the first generation 5g modem X50 in October 2016, and announced the second generation of products today. Shen Lei said: "at present, the interoperability test of most mainstream equipment suppliers in the world, the laboratory and existing network test of most operators and the 5g terminal product development of most OEM manufacturers are based on Xiaolong X50. Xiaolong x55 is currently in the sample supply stage, and the commercial terminal is expected to be released in 2019. "
It should be pointed out that no matter which 5g modem is, based on the complexity of 5g technology and the maturity of 5g commercial initial industrial chain, the prices of various devices including 5g modem will be high, which can also make us better understand China Mobile's judgment that the price of 5g mobile phone is expected to be more than 8000 yuan.
As for when the price of 5g products can become a generally accepted level, it also depends on the joint efforts of all parties in the industrial chain and the acceptance of the market.
5g suite reduces development difficulty
The problems caused by the complexity of 5g are not only reflected in the modem. Shen Lei pointed out that in the whole communication link, in addition to modems, many devices are needed, including RF front ends such as RF transceivers and filters, switches and power amplifiers (PA), as well as antennas. Especially in 5g millimeter wave deployment, a large number of antennas need to be supported on the terminal. For such a complex communication link, if components developed by different manufacturers are used, the integration, testing and optimization process of the whole terminal will be very long and the cost will be very high.
Cristiano Amun, President of Qualcomm, said: "in the face of 5g, OEM manufacturers are facing a series of arduous design challenges. Meeting the multi-mode demand covering 2G to 5g and the increasing frequency band combination have brought unprecedented complexity. Stand alone modems or RF solutions are no longer sufficient to meet these challenges. "
Therefore, we can see that Qualcomm also released the supporting millimeter wave antenna module qtm052 when it released Xiaolong X50. The new generation of millimeter wave antenna module qtm525 is released together with Xiaolong x55. Qtm525 has two major improvements. On the one hand, on the basis of the n257 (28ghz), n260 (39ghz) and n261 (28ghz) bands already supported by the previous generation products, it has added support for n258 (26ghz) bands for North America, Europe and Australia. On the other hand, it is miniaturization. Through the improvement of integration, mobile phone manufacturers can make the thickness of millimeter wave mobile phones less than 8mm, which is basically the same as that of the lightest 4G mobile phones at present.
In addition, Qualcomm also released the world's first announced 5g 100MHz envelope tracking solution qet6100, integrated 5g / 4G power amplifier (PA) and diversity module series, and qat3555 5g adaptive antenna tuning solution. What is the meaning of envelope tracking (ET)? Shen Lei pointed out that the power amplifier (PA) of the mobile phone is mainly responsible for amplifying the relatively small signal in the mobile phone before the mobile phone sends the signal to the base station, so that its energy becomes large enough and can be transmitted far enough, so that the base station can receive the signal, and then establish communication between the base station and the mobile phone.
Improving the efficiency of PA has always been one of the biggest challenges in mobile phone design. The 5g envelope tracking solution launched by Qualcomm is enhanced on 4G et, and the efficiency of PA has more than doubled. Qat3555 can cooperate with Xiaolong x55 to reduce antenna size, improve antenna adaptability and improve antenna performance. Both qet6100 and qat3555 are of positive significance to improve the endurance, higher rate and higher communication quality of 5g terminals.
Shen Lei further said that Xiaolong x55 is not a separate communication module, but a complete set of chips. Qualcomm has complete solutions for various devices on all RF links, from millimeter wave to frequency band below 6GHz. With the support of the complete scheme, mobile phone manufacturers do not need to spend a lot of time on terminal design. They can also complete product R & D, production and Optimization in a relatively short time, take into account the thin shape and good performance of the products, and speed up the time to market.
While improving the performance, the number of devices contained in the Xiaolong x55 suite is less than that of the Xiaolong X50 suite, and the integration is higher, which can better control the power consumption.
Internet of things, XR, Internet of vehicles and other applications
We know that most of 4G and its previous generations of wireless communication technologies are still used in the single industry of mobile phone, and an important vision of 5g is to expand wireless communication technology to more industries, release more productivity, spawn new business models, change or even reshape the face of many industries, so as to improve the whole human society.
Of course, the realization of 5g vision is inseparable from the evolution and application of 5g technology. In December 2017, rel-15 independent mode (NSA) standard was determined, and in June 2018, independent mode (SA) standard was released. At present, most operators in China consider SA deployment, but some operators consider NSA deployment.
Not only the modes are different, but also the deployment of frequency bands is different. The most important application in millimeter wave and frequency bands below 6GHz is enhanced mobile broadband (embB). This kind of deployment use case is mainly to provide higher rate and wider bandwidth. 5g has other deployment directions, such as ultra-high reliability and low delay communication (urllc), which focuses on reducing delay and improving reliability. "From the perspective of standards, the standardization of rel-16 is in progress, and its commercial use may be realized within one or two years after rel-15. However, Qualcomm has been studying the technical improvement that rel-17 can achieve on 5g," said Xu Jian, engineering and technical director of Qualcomm and head of R & D in China
In addition to paying attention to the progress of standards, Qualcomm is also promoting OTA (over the air) and prototype testing. On the one hand, it can carry out R & D and testing of business scenarios that Qualcomm may encounter in advance; On the other hand, new technologies can be tested and verified in advance based on prototype or OTA field test, so as to obtain new test results.
Xu further pointed out that Qualcomm is also exploring more application scenarios for collaborative multipoint in the 5g era. The biggest advantage of collaborative multipoint is its collaboration. There is good collaboration between eNodeB and eNodeB or between gnodeb and gnodeb. At present, the known good application scenario is commercial Internet of things or industrial Internet of things.
In addition to the Internet of things, he is also optimistic about AR applications. Xu believes that AR glasses are lighter and will not affect daily life. They can show real-world information and virtual information at the same time. When the mobile phone supports very good network communication, AR glasses can access the network through the connection with the mobile phone, and AR glasses are expected to directly support 5g connection. This wearable device may be a good 5g application scenario in addition to mobile phones in the near future.
Another application scenario of 5g is the cellular vehicle network (c-v2x). The automotive field is ushering in a series of technological revolutions, including vehicle electrification, automation and full connection of the vehicle network. The vehicle network has a high demand for image processing, sound processing and sensor fusion. 5g can provide the connection between vehicles and between vehicles and networks, coupled with the enhancement of AI algorithm, The combination of the two can provide help for the development of vehicle networking and automatic driving in the future.
To sum up, in addition to the current 5g high-speed embB scenario, we will also see 5g applications of industrial Internet of things supporting eurllc, 5g NR c-v2x, shared / unlicensed spectrum and unrestricted XR.
As the first company to launch 5g modems for mobile terminals, Qualcomm released the second-generation product Xiaolong x55 shortly after other companies launched the first generation products. The characteristics of Xiaolong x55 well illustrate the complexity of 5g technology. Of course, Qualcomm has also given a complete set of solutions to reduce the difficulty of 5g product development. In addition, the high investment in 5g is also a key to hinder the popularization and implementation of 5g. Therefore, under the condition of more advanced technology and high investment, more landing scenarios can not only reduce the cost of 5g, but also further promote the development of communication technology, but it is not an easy thing.
Qualcomm said that snapdragon x55 is providing samples to customers and should reach commercial equipment by the end of this year.
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Original address: https://www.eeboard.com/news/7gbps-5g-snapdragon-x55/
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