Gear up to use 5G services soon. Samsung has developed the modem capable of handling the next generation communication platform 5G. The modem is Exynos Modem 5100 and apparently the first ever modem in the 5G genre.
It is also being described as being fully compatible with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15 (Rel.15). This is considered the standard for 5G New Radio (5G NR). The significant part of this path-breaking innovation is that it can support the legacy radio access technologies, meaning 4G/3G.
The first step has been taken, which is to test the modem out for its functionality. The test was conducted in an environment where the base station was transmitting in 5G and the receiver was fitted with the new Exynos Modem 5100 thereby ensuring the over-the-air (OTA) 5G-NR data call test was a genuine one. The test also paves the way for turning the technology for commercial use.
The next step is to work with the carriers to develop the technology to take it to the users. As mentioned, the new Exynos Modem 5100 supports sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums specified in 3GPP’s 5G standard as well as legacy networks, including 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSPA and 4G LTE, with a single chip solution. That will be the key to the rapid spread of the new technology, since there will be a transition period where the older SIMs will be in use and communications have to be seamless.
In terms of the technological capabilities of Samsung’s 5G modem, Samsung claims it has a download speed of 2Gbps under the sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) settings and 6Gbps in mmWave settings.
This is as much as more than one and a half times the capability the predecessor, 4G. The other important factor to be noted is that with the 5G technology, areas like Internet of Things (IoT), ultra-high-resolution videos, holograms, real-time artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving.
Samsung hopes to have the modems commercially available by the end of this year.