Qualcomm Unveils First 5G-Advanced Silicon Chipset

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X75, the first chipset for the 5G-Advanced platform. 5G-Advanced is expected to drive innovations in fixed wireless access (FWA), private networks, smartphones, vehicles, and industrial IoT.

Snapdragon X75 is Qualcomm’s first modem-RF system with a dedicated tensor accelerator along with new AI-powered optimizations to boost data rates, coverage, mobility, link robustness, and location accuracy. The vendor also detailed plans to use the X75 in its FWA Platform Gen 3, which it branded as the first fully integrated 5G-Advanced product for such services. It is compatible with mmWave and sub-6GHz frequencies along with Wi-Fi 7. Qualcomm stated the platform could enable a new class of all-wireless home broadband, delivering multi-gigabit data rates and fixed-line levels of latency. It pitched the FWA product as a cost-effective means to deliver fiber-like data rates over 5G to rural areas.

“The Snapdragon X75 5G Modem-RF System is a big step ahead in terms of how we are positioning ourselves for the next phase of 5G,“ said Durga Malladi, SVP and GM for cellular modems and infrastructure at Qualcomm. She acknowledged the capabilities defined in the 3GPP Release-18 standard won’t be available until 2024. “The system also features a converged transceiver for mmWave and sub-6GHz spectrum paired with its fifth-generation mmWave antenna modules to reduce cost, power consumption, and hardware footprint. It’s the first converged architecture that exists out there today. This has been worked on for a long period of time“. The Snapdragon X75 is currently sampling, with commercial devices expected to launch in H2.