Qualcomm intros 5G NR-Light Modem-RF system

Qualcomm Technologies announced Snapdragon X35 5G Modem-RF System, the world’s first 5G NR-Light modem-RF system, for 5G devices.
Qualcomm 5G NR-Light Modem-RF SystemCustomer sampling of Snapdragon X35 and X32 are expected to begin in the first half of 2023 and commercial mobile devices are expected to be launched by the first half of 2024. Qualcomm did not reveal the name of its customers who are going to use the 5G NR-Light Modem-RF System.

NR-Light fills the gap in between high-speed mobile broadband devices and extremely low-bandwidth NB-IoT devices. NR-Light devices, powered by Snapdragon X35, can be smaller, more cost-efficient, and provide longer battery life.

Qualcomm Technologies also announced Snapdragon X32 5G Modem-RF System, a modem-to-antenna solution built to lower complexity and fuel cost-efficient NR-Light devices.

“The world’s first 5G NR-Light modem features a cost-effective, streamlined design with leading power efficiency, optimized thermal, and reduced footprint,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, cellular modems and infrastructure, Qualcomm Technologies.

Snapdragon X35, a 3GPP Release 17 RedCap modem with optimized RFIC and PMIC modules, offers OEMs new 5G capabilities.

Snapdragon X35 brings a unique mix of capabilities in data rates, power consumption, complexity, and reduced footprint needed to cost-effectively enable new use cases such as entry-level industrial IoT devices, mass tier fixed wireless access consumer premise equipment, mass tier connected PCs, and first generation 5G consumer IoT devices like direct-to-cloud glasses and premium wearables.

Snapdragon X35 is backwards compatible and future-proof enabling OEMs to develop devices which coexist with a wide range of 4G and 5G device classes helping scale 5G NR-Light services.

Snapdragon X35 is equipped with advanced modem-RF technologies aimed to significantly reduce power consumption, enhance 5G coverage, lower latency, increase battery life, and improve uplink speeds.

Snapdragon X35 supports dual-frequency GNSS (L1+L5) to offer precise positioning suited to enable new industrial use cases and applications. Snapdragon X35 supports all spectrum bands within Sub-6GHz, FDD, and TDD, to satisfy the needs of various markets.