Qualcomm reveals industry’s first 5G NR solution for small cells

Original Press Release

Qualcomm Introduces Industry’s First 5G NR Solution for Small Cells and Remote Radio Heads

The FSM100xx 10nm 5G Solution Supports both sub-6GHz and mmWave Spectrum Bands and is Optimized for Small Cell and Remote Radio Head Deployments

May 21, 2018 | LONDON

Today, at The Small Cells World Summit 2018, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), continues its leadership on the path to 5G by introducing the industry’s first 5G NR solution targeted for small cells and remote radio head deployments (FSM100xx). Building on the market-proven and broadly deployed Qualcomm® FSM™ Platform for 3G and 4G small cells, this new small cell product will support 5G NR in both mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum.This highly flexible solution is designed to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to reuse both software and hardware designs across sub-6 and mmWave products, supporting high-bandwidth and robust coverage for mobile subscribers around the globb. Small cell densification, which is already under way for 4G, is likewise expected to be a critical component of 5G network deployments and FSM100xx readies the industry to develop powerful and uniform 5G user experiences, taking advantage of the full range of 5G spectrum types.

The FSM100xx applies Qualcomm Technologies’ expertise in 10nm mobile technologies to facilitate superior power consumption and performance, supporting critical outdoor deployments and challenging indoor scenarios. Given the propagation characteristics of 5G NR’s higher frequencies (especially mmWave), solutions are needed to support delivery of uniform 5G experiences, especially indoors where most data is consumed. Benefitting from our extensive 5G mobile experience and technology, the FSM100xx solution scales to address outdoor small cell performance requirements such as support for MIMO implementation and multi-gigabit throughput, as well as support indoor requirements such as compact form factor and power over ethernet (PoE) support.

The FSM100xx also includes a software defined modem, designed to facilitate OEMs to readily upgrade their devices to comply with future 3GPP releases. Additionally, this 5G NR solution supports various options for interface splits between central unit (CU) and remote radio head, providing OEMs and operators with the flexibility to use a 5G radio access network architecture that best fits their needs, such as a virtualized 5G architecture that is designed to deliver scalability through the cloud or a more distributed architecture to ease fronthaul requirements.

“Qualcomm Technologies is leading the world to 5G by providing this 5G NR small cell solution to support 5G NR in both sub-6Hz and mmWave spectrum,” said Irvind Ghai, vice president, product management, Qualcomm Atheros, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With small cells expected to play a critical role in 5G networks, we are happy to announce our highly flexible FSM100xx solution capable of supporting a wide range of use case and deployment models, and to support our customers to deliver on the promise of 5G.”

Announced during today’s Small Cells World Summit, the FSM100xx solution is expected to begin sampling in 2019 and Qualcomm Technologies is working with early access customers.