Qualcomm is prepping to support 600 MHz as the spectrum repack continues
HONG KONG–Qualcomm Technologies announced new additions to the RF front-end (RFFE) portfolio that is designed to provide comprehensive support for devices operating in the 600 MHz spectrum.
The announcement was made during the company’s 4G/5G Summit taking place this week in Hong Kong.
The chipmaker said the new additions to its RFFE portfolio are designed to allow original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to build mobile devices that support new operator deployments of Band 71, a 600 MHz low-frequency band. In the U.S. T-Mobile is aggressively deploying its 600 MHz spectrum in both rural and urban areas.
Qualcomm highlighted this spectrum brings greater capacity to mobile operators’ networks, in addition to enhanced outdoor coverage and indoor penetration. Qualcomm Technologies’ solution is expected to enable a wide variety of devices, including smartphones and internet of things (IoT) products, to access this spectrum without adding unnecessary complexities to device design and development, the chipmaker said.
The new 600 MHz modem-to-antenna solution comprises a suite of RF front end components, including:
- QPM2622 low-band power amplifier module (PAMiD), which comes with integrated duplexers, switches and an antenna coupler, and complements the QPM2632 mid-band PAMiD and the QPM2642 high-band PAMiD, for global SKU development.
- QAT3516 adaptive aperture tuner, which is the first commercially announced aperture tuner optimized for 600 MHz, and comes with adaptive tunability and can be paired with the QAT3550 antenna impedance tuner for advanced adaptive tuning capabilities, according to the company.
- 600 MHz duplexer B1223 and diversity receive (DRX) filter B8356. Qualcomm said the High Q temperature compensated filters (HQTCF) process provides optimized performance and the innovative filter design topologies enable challenging specifications including high bandwidth support, low insertion loss and high attenuation to be achieved.
- QPM2622, QPM2632 and QPM2642 PAMiDs are designed for global SKU development with the Snapdragon 800 Mobile Platform tier.
“Our comprehensive 600 MHz solution is designed to make it easier for OEMs to build industrial designs for superior coverage without having to give up the sleek form factors they now enjoy,” said Christian Block, senior vice president and general manager, RF Front-End, Qualcomm Technologies. “This new bandwidth and functionality will be important to mobile operators as well, so they can satisfy customer demand for coverage in remote and hard-to-reach places.”
Customers are receiving samples of the new solution, which will be available for use in commercial products in late 2017.
