The new Exynos Modem 5100 also supports legacy networks and radio like 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, 4G LTE and more.
Samsung has announced its new Exynos Modem 5100, which it says is the “industry’s first 5G modem that is fully compatible with 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15 (Rel.15).” This means that the modem conforms to the latest specification for 5G New Radio (5G-NR). Built on a 10nm process, the chip will also support legacy radio access technologies and is said to be capable of delivering maximum downlink speed of up to 2Gbps in the sub-6 GHz 5G settings and 6Gbps when using its mmWave settings. There is no word on the official release date of the Exynos Modem 5100, but the company says that it will be made available to customers by the end of 2018.
Although 5G is still a long ways off, Samsung says that it has been working with a number of global mobile carriers and partners for hastening the availability of 5G mobile communications in the market. The Exynos Modem 5100 is said to support both sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums specified in 3GPP’s 5G standard as well as legacy networks. These legacy networks include 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSPA, and 4G LTE. When operating on 4G networks, the new modem is said to deliver downlink speeds of up to 1.6Gbps. The company says that it’s a single-chip modem with support for multi-mode communication.
Samsung stated in a blog post, “Samsung successfully conducted an over-the-air (OTA) 5G-NR data call test under a wireless environment utilizing a 5G base station and 5G end-user equipment prototype embedded with Exynos Modem 5100. As the test simulated real-world cellular network conditions, this will ensure faster development and commercialization of 5G mobile devices that adopt this new modem.”
Samsung is not the only one working towards a 5G capable modem chip. Intel announced its First Commercial 5G Modem, the XMM 8060 last year and Qualcomm has also confirmed its X50 5G modem will be available in their future Snapdragon SoCs. Qualcomm had recently announced its 5G NR millimeter wave (mmWave) and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices. It showcased the QTM052 mmWave antenna module and the Qualcomm QPM56xx sub-6 GHz RF module, both of which pair with the company’s X50 5G modem for delivering connectivity across different spectrum bands.
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