New 5G NR mmWave Modules are 25 Percent Smaller in Size, Allowing Mobile Device OEMs High Design-in Flexibility for Their 5G Mobile Handset Designs set to Launch in Early 2019

Oct 22, 2018 | HONG KONG

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, today announced the smallest additions to the Qualcomm® QTM052 mmWave antenna module family of fully-integrated 5G NR millimeter wave (mmWave) modules for smartphones and other mobile devices. 25 percent smaller than the first QTM052 mmWave antenna modules announced in July 2018, the latest mmWave antenna module is engineered to enable mobile device manufacturers to address stringent mobile handset size requirements for 5G NR smartphones and mobile devices expected to launch in 2019. With these smaller antenna modules, OEMs now have more options for antenna placement, providing them with more freedom and flexibility in their 5G mmWave designs.

“At Qualcomm Technologies, we’re constantly looking for ways to innovate and revolutionize the mobile experience, and we’ve done that with the QTM052 mmWave antenna modules, which build on a major milestone that we introduced in July 2018 – the announcement of the first commercial 5G NR mmWave and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices,” said Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm Incorporated. “We are dedicated to providing OEMs more versatility in their 5G smartphone form factor offerings, and that’s made possible through Qualcomm Technologies’ groundbreaking innovations in miniaturizing 5G NR mmWave modules. This milestone reinforces leadership of Qualcomm Technologies in enabling the path to 5G commercialization in early 2019.”

The QTM052 mmWave antenna modules pair with the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X50 5G modem to help address the challenges associated with mmWave. They feature a phased antenna array design in an incredibly small footprint, suitable for integrating up to four modules in a smartphone form factor. The modules support advanced beam forming, beam steering, and beam tracking technologies, designed to drastically improve the range and reliability of mmWave signals. Lastly, they include an integrated 5G NR radio transceiver, power management IC, RF front-end components and phased antenna array as well as support up to 800 MHz of bandwidth in the 26.5-29.5 GHz (n257), 27.5-28.35 (n261), and 37-40 GHz (n260) mmWave bands.

The new, smaller QTM052 mmWave antenna module family is now sampling to customers and is expected to launch in commercial 5G NR devices in early 2019.