It was just one year ago that Qualcomm’s 5G modem and millimeter wave antenna were wheeled into the showroom on a cart. Times change fast. The company recently unveiled its new modem and milimeter wave antenna, sometimes known as mmWave, which is now small enough to fulfill its intended purpose of fitting inside a cellphone. Qualcomm calls the chip the “world’s first” fully integrated 5G NR millimeter wave and sub-6 GHz RF module for smartphones and other mobile devices.
The term 5G—referring to the fifth generation of mobile data sharing technology—is often considered a buzz word used to prematurely herald in an out-of-reach standard. Some are not convinced that most mobile networks even have full 4G coverage yet. Regardless, before the required infrastructure for 5G can begin, the hardware has to be present. Qualcomm introducing a modem and antenna chip that meets requisite size requirements is one step closer in that direction.
The telecommunications goal of achieving millimeter wave and sub-6 GHz coverage has always provided formidable challenges. The millimeter wave objective originates from an ever increasing demand to carry more data across the network. To prevent channels from getting clogged, 5G aims to broaden the amount of frequencies on the spectrum that are dedicated to mobile networks. This is why developing hardware capable of transmitting and receiving smaller wave sizes—in this case, millimeter-sized—is so vital.
Engineering issues can arise from the wave size themselves. The signals normally used in telecommunications can easily pass by most objects. Millimeter wave signals are so small that they can be disrupted by almost anything, including buildings, trees or waving a hand in front of the beam.
To overcome this, Qualcomm has made the millimeter wave antenna module compatible with the Snapdragon X50 5G modem. It is part of a comprehensive system that, according to Qualcomm, supports advance beam forming, beam steering and beam tracking technologies, drastically improving the range and reliability of millimeter wave signals.
In order to use the easily disrupted millimeter wave signals, 5G networks intend to build an interconnected network that will allow any disrupted beam to instantly reconnect with another receiver where there isn’t an object in the way.
Of course, the hardware itself isn’t going to be enough to make the 5G dream a reality. Building an infrastructure that will allow for millimeter wave signals to be constantly rerouted will require many more signal towers, modems and connectable devices.
We are not likely to see 5G devices anywhere outside of big cities any time soon. Even “soon” probably means the early 2020s, despite earlier promises that 5G would be available by the end of 2018. But, the Qualcomm chip does get us closer.