Qualcomm Technologies Inc. claims it has demonstrated real-world testing of 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) connectivity speeds on commercial devices reaching 16 times faster speeds than 5G operating solely on the sub-6 GHz frequencies.
The testing results were based on Ookla Speedtest data from user-initiated tests on commercial devices in the U.S. While sub-6 GHz 5G offers speeds faster than 4G, to reach the purported six times speeds, bandwidth and low latency compared to 4G, mmWave is needed with its ultra-wide channels.
Most of the deployments for 5G globally have been in the sub-6 GHz range, however mmWave momentum is expanding with deployments coming from major operators in the U.S. and Japan with recent deployments in Europe and Asia. China is expected to deploy 5G mmWave for the Winter Olympics early next year.
Qualcomm has a vested interest in mmWave due to its Snapdragon Mobile Platforms — from its 8- to 4-series, supporting 5G mmWave. Qualcomm has more than 100 commercial and pre-commercial 5G mmWave devices including smartphones, PCs, mobile hotspots, customer premises equipment and modules powered by Snapdragon.
Additionally, the Snapdragon devices are capable of delivering gigabit internet access to communities via 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) platforms including extended range 5G with mmWave solutions.
Qualcomm is also producing radio access networks such as small cells and recently the company introduced the Snapdragon X65 module-RF system to further extend 5G mmWave with new capabilities such as 10 Gbps peak speeds and mmWave/sub-6 GHz spectrum aggregation using dual connectivity.
