Qualcomm is helping two of China’s biggest companies meet the demand for LTE. Huawei, China Mobile and Qualcomm said they have completed a commercial verification of LTE-TDD inter-band three-component carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation refers to the combination of different spectrum bands to form a larger channel to transmit data. In this case, China Mobile said it has aggregated spectrum in the 1.9 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands available for LTE-Advanced TDD outdoor coverage.
The 1.9 GHz spectrum offers broader coverage, and supports most of China Mobile’s LTE network. The higher-band 2.6 GHz spectrum is designed to help with capacity in densely populated areas. China Mobile is the world’s largest carrier with 815 million subscribers.
Huawei’s commercial base station and Qualcomm Technologies’ commercial terminal based on the Snapdragon 810 processor with X10 LTE were used to verify China Mobile’s three-component carrier aggregation. One 20-megahertz carrier in the 1.9 GHz band was combined with two 20-megahertz carriers in the 2.6 GHz band to achieve reported downlink peak rates of up to 320 megabits per second, according to Huawei.
Qualcomm in China
Carrier aggregation is an important part of China Mobile’s growth strategy, and it is also very important to Qualcomm’s growth. The world’s leading maker of mobile chips has worked hard to stay ahead in the world’s largest smartphone market, but competition has been fierce.
Earlier this year, Qualcomm cut its revenue and earnings projections, citing competition in China. Last month, Qualcomm again trimmed the outlook for its semiconductor business.
With Chinese and Taiwanese chipmakers undercutting Qualcomm on price, the San Diego-based company is leveraging its leadership position in research and development. Carrier aggregation relies on specialized smartphone modems, and Qualcomm has been a pioneer here just as it was in LTE modems.
Qualcomm licenses wireless technology to Chinese companies, but it must do so on the Chinese government’s terms. Earlier this year, Chinese regulators found that the chipmaker violated China’s anti-monopoly law and Qualcomm agreed to pay a $975 million fine and to change some its licensing practices in China.
Qualcomm now offers Chinese companies licenses to its current 3G and 4G standards essential patents separately from licenses to its other patents.
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