Qualcomm Achieves Critical 5G Standalone mmWave Milestone in China

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Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. announced it achieved groundbreaking 5G standalone (SA) mmWave performance, laying the groundwork for expanded commercial mmWave deployments. As the number of global internet users continues to grow significantly, 5G SA mmWave helps enable more industries and users to access unparalleled experiences and capabilities.

Devices powered by the Snapdragon® X65 5G Modem-RF System were connected to network infrastructure equipment provided by industry leaders such as ZTE, Nokia Shanghai Bell and CICT Mobile. The companies achieved over 7.1 Gbps download peak rate utilizing DDDSU frame structure and over 2.1 Gbps upload peak rate utilizing DSUUU frame structure, and a low latency of 3.6 ms. All the tests were completed under the guidance of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and China’s IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group.

The tests included core performance metrics such as single-user throughput, user plane and control plane latency, beam switching and cell handover. The tests demonstrated that mmWave achieves higher speeds and lower latency than sub-6 GHz, using 5G mmWave-only (FR2-only) deployments without an anchor on LTE or sub-6 GHz spectrum, allowing greater flexibility to deploy 5G and to meet higher capacity demand.

“Today is another significant milestone for 5G mmWave,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, cellular modems and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “As the world continues to see increased data demand, mmWave is playing a pivotal role in increasing network capacity at a lower cost for operators. We are proud to continue working with industry partners such as ZTE, Nokia and CICT Mobile, and the IMT2020 (5G) Promotion Group to push the boundaries of connectivity and enable robust consumer and enterprise experiences.”