At the ongoing Small Cells World Summit 2018, Qualcomm, the leader in semiconductor chipset market today announced the path to 5G by introducing the industry's 5G NR solution targeted for small cells and remote radio head deployments (FSM100xx). This new solution is built on the broadly deployed Qualcomm FSM Platform for 3G and 4G small cells, this new small cell product will support 5G NR in both mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum. Qualcomm says this is a highly flexible solution is designed to enable original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to reuse both software and hardware designs across sub-6 GHz and mmWave products, supporting high-bandwidth and robust coverage for mobile subscribers around the globe.
Small cell densification, which is already underway for 4G, is likewise expected to be a critical component of 5G network deployments and FSM100xx readies the industry to develop powerful and uniform 5G user experiences, taking advantage of the full range of 5G spectrum types.
The FSM100xx applies Qualcomm Technologies’ expertise in 10nm mobile technologies to facilitate superior power consumption and performance, supporting critical outdoor deployments and challenging indoor scenarios. Given the propagation characteristics of 5G NR’s higher frequencies (especially mmWave), solutions are needed to support delivery of uniform 5G experiences, especially indoors where most data is consumed.
Benefitting from Qualcomm's extensive 5G mobile experience and technology, the FSM100xx solution scales to address outdoor small cell performance requirements such as support for MIMO implementation and multi-gigabit throughput, as well as support indoor requirements such as compact form factor and power over Ethernet (PoE) support.
The FSM100xx also includes a software-defined modem, designed to facilitate OEMs to readily upgrade their devices to comply with future 3GPP releases. Additionally, this 5G NR solution supports various options for interface splits between central unit (CU) and remote radio head, providing OEMs and operators with the flexibility to use a 5G radio access network architecture that best fits their needs, such as a virtualised 5G architecture that is designed to deliver scalability through the cloud or a more distributed architecture to ease fronthaul requirements.
