The 5G evolution is now ready to enter its next transformational phase with the introduction of 5G-Advanced and address the initial limitations of 5G Non-Standalone (5G NSA) implementations, while refining foundational aspects and further improving existing systems. This advancement will result in the introduction of new features and applications that will develop a plethora of use cases and applications, creating new and lucrative business opportunities.
Significantly, these enhancements will be built upon by the imminent move to The 3rd Generation Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Release 18 (Rel-18), a significant evolution that will represent major 5G evolutions and support the continuous drive to new use cases, verticals and deployments. The main pillars of this transformation as the industry moves to commercialize 5G-Advanced are:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML): For improved devices, radio transmission, expanded positioning and networks performance.
- Enhanced Satellite Mobile Communications (New Radio Non-Terrestrial Network (NR-NTN)): Communications using standards-based non-terrestrial technologies (NR-NTN, Narrowband-NTN (NB-NTN)) for mobile and beyond, for enhancing public safety and for complementing terrestrial networks in underserved areas.
- Improved 5G NR Lite (Reduced Capability (RedCap)): Drive new 5G use cases aimed at cost-effective, energy-constrained devices with reduced complexity in new form factors.
- Performance Enhancements for Devices and Networks: With advanced carrier aggregation and Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO) for both downlink and uplink, and higher quadrature amplitude modulation and advanced antenna systems.
These features are fundamental 5G evolution vectors that are designed to help unlock and more efficiently support both existing and a broad range of new use cases and more challenging applications. This will also allow segment enhancements, pushing to new form factors and products, such as Extended Reality (XR), automotive and drones, smart computing hubs, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Indeed, these new market applications will have an impact not just through unlocking completely new use cases in the consumer market, but also representing a huge opportunity in the enterprise sector across its multiple verticals offering features and tools that are ripe for deployment and innovation.
While each of the new services and enhanced features that spring from 3GPP Rel-18 will fundamentally grow the number of uses cases in the 5G ecosystem, at each stage there will be an increasingly demanding impact on hardware as the opportunity extends beyond smartphones and mobile broadband. As each of these new advanced 5G features are released, they will not only have a bearing on networks, but also a lasting impact on many key metrics that are linked to the use of device components, system-level design, performance, power consumption and overall costs. Indeed, adding these new functions will place a significant burden and complexity on growth in new device designs, with some necessitating the use of additional hardware. So, players who can address these complexities at the very early stage of 5G-Advanced market development will have the competitive advantage of maturing their technologies far ahead of the competition and bringing 5G-Advanced to large-scale deployment.
Such an explosion in 5G user experiences, buoyed by the implementation of 3GPP Rel-18, will lead to the development of greater numbers of devices and market segments. It is expected that this expanding market opportunity will experience an inflection point sometime in late 2024 and, as features continue maturing, the next phase of mass deployment will start in 2025. If key industry stakeholders want to take advantage of this strong value proposition and surge in market volume, they will need to act now to mature their implementations and quickly come to grips with balancing the complexity inherent in the 5G-Advanced system. They will also need to resolve expected new device diversification and enhancements or else they run the risk of being left behind in the race to capitalize on this significant market potential.
Moreover, to take full advantage of this evolution, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) need to select a strong chipset partner to help tap into this opportunity and fully maximize their potential in what will be a growth sector. Early movers who can leverage their competitive edge to introduce these features to the market before their rivals will lead the market. They will have the opportunity to refine and scale their technologies and features through multiple iterations and across various market segments, aligning with evolving customer needs and preferences. This head start will allow them to establish a strong market position well before their competitors even begin to tackle the market. Now, it is Qualcomm that is the standout provider and currently ahead of the pack for bringing the underpinning technologies and addressing the pillars of 5G-Advanced to the marketplace.
To aid the next phase of 5G evolution across product segments and lead the evolution of 3GPP standards, Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF System, which is equipped with an architecture to support 5G-Advanced and enhanced technologies, such as AI, included in Rel-18. Snapdragon X80 is equipped to empower OEMs to create next-gen 5G devices supporting Rel-18 5G features across key verticals, including smartphones, mobile broadband, automotive, compute, XR, Industrial IoT (IIoT), FWA and 5G private networks.
The chipset is equipped with the world’s first fully integrated Snapdragon Satellite support, including NB-NTN, and integrated 5G AI processor powering Qualcomm’s 5G AI Suite Gen 3 that provides AI-enhanced data speeds, Quality of Service (QoS), latency, precise location, coverage and power efficiency. Snapdragon X80 also offers flexibility for operators with a more fragmented spectrum, as it is the first to feature 6X carrier aggregation downlink for sub-6 Gigahertz (GHz) bands and 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) support, as well as switched uplink across Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD), Supplementary Uplink and 10 Component Carrier (CC) aggregation with 256 QAM on 10 carriers’ for Millimeter Wave (mmWave)—all of these features can increase downlink and uplink data speeds and capacity, and offer more options to operators to attain higher peak speeds. It is also the first with 6 Receive (RX) support for smartphones, enhancing coverage performance, especially at the cell edge.
The Snapdragon X80 platform joins its predecessor, the Snapdragon X75, as well as the Snapdragon X35 5G Modem-RF System, the world’s first 5G RedCap Modem-RF system, which will help drive new 5G use cases aimed at cost-effective, energy-constrained devices with reduced complexity in smaller form factors, such as wearables, IIoT devices, next generation XR glasses, etc. Moreover, the use of 5G RedCap is also being touted for use in power-efficient, cost-optimized devices, including FWA devices, consumer 5G IoT, low-cost 5G Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) and low-cost 5G laptops.
However, for these services to become reality and to leverage the growing opportunities, it is essential that the industry transition to 5G Standalone (SA) architecture or else it cannot get to 5G-Advanced. With its simplified network architecture and use of a broader spectrum of bands, 5G SA allows for improved coverage and capacity, latency in the millisecond range and data speeds of up to 20 Gigabits per Second (Gbps). This performance can enable new mission-critical applications with demanding requirements, including autonomous vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and collaborative robots. The self-healing capabilities of 5G SA will enable the network to be more reliable and resilient, allowing it to address potential failures that could otherwise affect operations.
The 5G SA architecture will also make the network future-proof, which will likely accelerate the migration to 5G-Advanced and 6G networks and services, once related standards have been ratified. While such a move also requires that chipsets support SA networks for use in devices, notably smartphones and FWA equipment, they need the core and Radio Access Network (RAN) to evolve together to make sure that support for 5G SA is properly adopted in the marketplace.
Of the remaining chipset suppliers in the market aiming to target this growing opportunity, each one is making strides to catch up to Qualcomm’s lead. Notably, MediaTek is clearly working hard with its Dimensity 9300+ chipset, and M60 and T300 (IoT) chips for RedCap applications, while the captive vendor Samsung has announced the Exynos 2400 chip that aims to tackle 5G SA and the AI opportunity, although it has not yet captured all necessary key features of 5G-Advanced (Rel-18).
The industry needs to quickly come to grips with balancing the complexity inherent in the 5G-Advanced system if it is to reach full potential. The first-to-market advantage is essential for maturing the technology, while addressing the implementation complexity of 5G-Advanced. To make the evolution a success, huge collaborative work is required across multiple supply chains. Industry should also support the technology with innovative business models that can unleash its full potential, while operators need to make the critical step from 5G NSA to 5G SA to ensure that they derive the appropriate benefits from the transition.
