5G, Wi-Fi, and connected intelligent edge are key enablers of the metaverse
As the possibilities of the metaverse for consumers and enterprises takes shape, the spotlight is on ensuring foundational technology pieces are in place. With core expertise ranging from connectivity and compute to graphics and sound, Qualcomm is in a prime position to fundamentally support the hardware and software, both network and device, that will serve as an on-ramp to the metaverse.
One way to think of the metaverse is as a Venn diagram with three primary circles representing the virtual, digital and physical worlds. At the intersection of virtual and physical world sits spatial computing; at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds sits sensor-based digitization. At the confluence of all three sits the metaverse, a combo of ubiquitous low-power sensing and immersive interaction.
Hemanth Sampath, senior director of engineering, explained that the metaverse “is this ever-present spatial internet that fuses the virtual and physical worlds where everyone and everything can virtually connect and interact with one another.” He said 5G and Wi-Fi are “core technologies to make the metaverse work,” along with edge cloud servers and 5G APIs, developed to connect apps, such as cloud gaming, more closely to the modem for uniform quality of service in dynamic radio conditions.
Minimizing latency is another key metric for enabling the metaverse, whether it be AR, VR, or cloud gaming. Qualcomm demonstrated how their latency optimizations of both 5G and Wi-Fi reduce round-trip time and provide improved user experience for boundless AR under different user scenarios. 5G cloud gaming saw similar reduction in latency spikes with Qualcomm’s latency optimizations.
To the point around the complementary nature of Wi-Fi and 5G, during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Qualcomm announced the new FastConnect 7800, the first announced Wi-Fi 7 product, and the Snapdragon X70 5G Modem-RF System.
FastConnect 7800 uses Wi-Fi 7 features like high-band multi-link and preamble puncturing to push performance to peak speeds of 5.8 Gbps and latency sub-2 milliseconds. The Snapdragon X70 Modem-RF System integrates artificial intelligence to optimize 5G performance which pushes downlink performance to the 10 Gbps mark using AI-backed channel state feedback, beam management, network selection, and adaptive antenna tuning.
Qualcomm has been a leader in enabling AR and VR experiences from silicon all the way through to reference device designs. The company is exploring cooperative sensing wherein mmWave propagation can be leveraged to determine physical positioning. Other areas of study include 5G for enhancing positioning, ranging and time resilience.
Looking to opportunities beyond smartphones, CEO Cristiano Amon noted during Qualcomm’s MWC press conference that the company has a decade of experience and investment in augmented, virtual and mixed reality. He also called out the adoption of digital twins in the industrial world and evolution of social interactions in the consumer segment as proof points that these hybrid-connected experiences are reaching an inflection point.
“We were investing in this technology when it wasn’t popular…And we’re very, very happy with the opportunity in front of us, of connection of physical and digital spaces. This opportunity is real; it’s one of the largest expansions of addressable market that we’re going to see. We believe many other ecosystems are going to embrace these technologies and bring scale.”
Watch this video for more on how Qualcomm is enabling the metaverse.
For a deeper look at all of Qualcomm’s MWC22 demos, visit this resource hub.
