At IC60, a special exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of integrated circuits hosted by Taiwan's Ministry of Science and Technology, MediaTek showcased a prototype of a 5G network device the size of a smartphone, emphasizing that it will develop various innovative technologies in conjunction with 5G network technology, such as 5G mobile phones, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and connected vehicles.
According to Dr. Zhou Yujun, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of MediaTek, the company expects to accelerate the promotion of 5G network technology from the end of this year to the first half of next year. It also expects to continue to promote areas such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Vehicles, and the Internet of Things, and will actively promote various 5G network application products.
Compared with competitorsQualcommManufacturers such as MediaTek plan to launch 5G network application products in the second half of this year. MediaTek has also stated that it has begun preparations to respond, and expects to focus on 5G network applications as early as the end of this year to the first half of next year, especially in 5G mobile phones, car networking and other products. It will also actively deploy XNUMXG mobile phones and car networking products, and will also strengthen the layout of the connection between artificial intelligence and terminal devices.
However, like other competitors, MediaTek's current 5G product designs are still mainly based on independently operated data chips. For the time being, it will not directly integrate 5G data communication chips into the processor, but it is expected to launch integrated design products within the next year, thereby further reducing the size of 5G network devices.
At this stage, MediaTek has not yet announced the list of partners who will be using its 5G network chips in the first wave, but more products should be added to use MediaTek's products in the future.
Following the release of the first wave of 3G network specifications by 5GPP, the market has confirmed that millimeter wave (mmWave) and unlicensed spectrum will drive 5G network development. Furthermore, the first wave of commercial deployments will begin in select regions by the end of this year. For example, US telecom operator Verizon plans to launch 5G network services in select cities like Boston. Large-scale rollouts of 5G network services and the introduction of a variety of 5G-connected devices are expected in the first half of 5, with widespread adoption expected in 2019, as previously estimated.
As for whether the rollout of 5G technology will impact the development of existing 4G LTE networks, the reality is that the two will not affect each other. Instead, the rollout of 5G networks will likely drive the continued expansion of 4G LTE networks. This is because existing 5G network technology is still based on 4G LTE networks. During the full transition to 5G network applications, 4G LTE will still be necessary. Areas where 5G networks haven't yet been deployed must also be covered by 4G LTE, or even 3G, to ensure proper network connectivity.
