Since the first year of 5G commercialization, 5G has mushroomed. Many 5G-related news can often be heard in life, including appearing in the promotional selling points of new mobile phones. That being said, many people still keep 5G in the impression that it is only "faster", forming a phenomenon that many people hold 5G but do not know what 5G is.
Compared with 4G, the data transmission rate of 5G can reach up to 10Gbit/s, which is 100 times faster than the previous generation. With 5G's "high speed," we can download a big movie or game in seconds, easily enjoy online 4K video and ultra-high-definition live streaming, and even immersive audio-visual entertainment experiences such as VR and AR. It's not just the speed of the internet, our lives have become "faster".
The rapid popularization of 5G is inseparable from the vigorous promotion of upstream manufacturers
We know that 5G baseband, as the basis for transmitting optical, electrical and digital signals, occupies a pivotal position in the development of the 5G industry. However, the design difficulty of baseband chips is not lower than that of performance chips, and Qualcomm 5G baseband has always been the optimal solution in the industry.
According to data from market research firm Counterpoint in the fourth quarter of 2021, Qualcomm leads the 5G modem chip shipments with a 76% share, demonstrating its strong dominance in the 5G baseband market. As a leader in the field of 5G and communications, Qualcomm has always promoted the development of the 5G industry with its forward-looking layout and rich technology accumulation.
The development of Qualcomm's 5G baseband has gradually made 5G an ideal look
In the first year of global 5G commercialization, that is, in 2019, more than 20 mainstream operators in the world have committed to deploying and launching 5G services, and more than 20 leading global OEMs have committed to releasing 5G terminals, which is more than 4 times that of the first year of 4G deployment.
Relying on the rich technology accumulation in the field of 5G, Qualcomm soon launched the second generation of 5G modems - Snapdragon X55.
Compared with the previous generation of Snapdragon X50, Snapdragon X55 is more like the first "true 5G baseband", which not only supports NSA (non-independent networking) and SA (independent networking) dual-mode 5G, but also supports 5G millimeter wave and sub-6GHz frequency bands, and can also be backward compatible with 2/3/4G networks, and the maximum downlink rate is as high as 7Gbps.
Based on the outstanding performance of Snapdragon X55, China Radio and Television and Qualcomm have joined forces with many terminal manufacturers - vivo, ZTE, Quectel, Guanghetong, and Gaoxinxing to launch the first batch of 5G commercial terminals that support the 700MHz band. The 700MHz 5G band has become the only globally recognized "golden frequency band" because of its wide signal coverage, fast transmission rate, strong penetration ability and suitable for large-scale continuous network coverage, laying the foundation for accelerating the deployment of 5G network commercial use nationwide.
That is, starting from snapdragon X55, mobile phone manufacturers have fully moved towards the ranks of 5G, and Qualcomm has also maintained a speed of one change per year, launching an iterative 5G baseband, and constantly breaking through the limits of 5G speed and experience. The subsequent release of Snapdragon X60 and Snapdragon X65 has still become an important step in promoting the development of 5G.
The first is the continuous promotion of the process, from the 7nm of the Snapdragon X55 to the 5nm of the Snapdragon X60, until the 4nm of the Snapdragon X65, each generation of Qualcomm 5G baseband uses the most advanced process at that time, which greatly ensures the best balance between performance and energy efficiency.
The second is the unification of compatibility, due to the policies of different countries around the world, the level of frequency bands and the difference between the standards, 5G baseband must have full compatibility. Starting from the Snapdragon X60, Qualcomm 5G baseband supports 5G millimeter wave and sub-6GHz band aggregation, using its "carrier aggregation" feature, countries and fields can make full use of spectrum resources in each band, compatible with a wider spectrum combination, and facilitate flexible deployment of operators.
In addition, Qualcomm is also constantly promoting 5G to new norms. The Snapdragon X65 is the world's first modem and RF system to meet the new 3GPP Rel-16 5G specification. If 3GPP Rel-15 lays the foundation for 5G, then 3GPP Rel-16 means that 5G has officially entered a new chapter. 3GPP Rel-16 will further enhance the 5G technology base, including coverage, mobility, power efficiency and reliability, and expand 5G to new use cases, spectrum bands, and vertical industries.
Under the new 3GPP Rel-16 5G specification, terminals equipped with Snapdragon X65 will have an upgradable architecture. This means that terminal manufacturers can flexibly upgrade in the future to match the 5G deployment plans of operators in different regions of the world, and promote the application of 5G in more different fields.
In addition to high-end flagship models, Qualcomm has vigorously promoted 5G to enter the sinking market. We see more and more mainstream price models on the market equipped with newly designed Qualcomm 5G basebands, including snapdragon X51 for Snapdragon 4 Series and 6 Series mobile platforms, Snapdragon X52 and Snapdragon X53 for Snapdragon 7 Series mobile platforms. Their emergence has undoubtedly greatly expanded the territory of 5G commercial terminals.
When 5G is integrated into AI, can it collide with a new spark of 5G development?
At MWC2022 in March this year, Qualcomm launched the 5th generation 5G modem - Snapdragon X70, which uses a 4nm process process to support up to 10Gbps downlink speeds, as well as 3.5Gbps uplink speeds, becoming the only baseband chip in the world to support all 5G commercial frequency bands from 600MHz to 41GHz. Moreover, the Snapdragon X70 is also the world's first baseband chip with a built-in AI processor!
Through the support of Qualcomm's 5G AI suite, the Snapdragon X70 not only accelerates the data transmission rate, increases network coverage, and extends the battery life, but also in the face of complex 5G signal scenarios, ai technology can make intelligent identification and monitoring in time to help predict and avoid certain dropped or risky connection states, thereby achieving better mobility and link robustness. This undoubtedly injects a shot in the arm for the development of the 5G industry.
Commercial terminals equipped with snapdragon X70 are expected to be unveiled by the end of this year. Of course, the official large-scale application should still be in 2023. At that time, most of the new terminal products will be equipped with Snapdragon X70 5G baseband, and Snapdragon X70 will also be the new leader of 5G baseband, taking on more functions for the 5G transformation of all walks of life.
5G is more of an capability that pushes the boundaries of distance and makes the impossible possible
In just a few years, 5G has grown from scratch, from nothingness to life- After five generations of iterative innovation of 5G baseband, each breakthrough innovation has made the 5G industry a big step forward. It can be said that Qualcomm has always led the development of the 5G industry with the iterative development of 5G baseband.
At present, qualcomm's 5G ecosystem has been slowly established. In the future, we will see more industries in addition to mobile phones embracing 5G. Using the characteristics of 5G "high speed", "large bandwidth", "low latency", etc., people, vehicles, roads, and clouds will form an efficient network, driving is no longer "single-handed", and automatic driving will be realized; telemedicine and distance education are no longer utopian, effectively solving the long-standing problem of uneven distribution of resources; and artificial intelligence technology will be jumped, and there will be more and more various intelligent robots into our lives.
Possibly, our lives will be refreshed from now on.