After announcing during IFA 2019 that it would integrate 5G connectivity chips into the Snapdragon 700 series processors by the end of the year, and subsequently into the high-end flagship Snapdragon 800 series and the mass-market Snapdragon 600 series processors, Qualcomm earlier reiterated its investment in 5G connectivity technology development at its headquarters in San Diego, and even further predicted that 6G network technology would enter the competitive stage soon.
According to Qualcomm, 5G networking technology has actually been in development for a long time, transitioning from analog signals to digital signals in 1992, and fully entering digital development in 1998. Subsequently, in 2013, the concept of IoT applications was expanded, and further exploration of the potential applications of unlicensed spectrum began. Leveraging the existing 4G network technology foundation, the development of 2014G network technology standards began in 5.
In the development of Qualcomm's 5G connectivity technology, in addition to enabling millimeter wave (mmWave) technology applications, which the market considers to be costly and difficult to implement, Qualcomm has also begun deploying connectivity methods based on 5G NR (New Radio) technology. This technology leverages unlicensed spectrum to connect network bandwidth resources, further improving 5G network transmission efficiency. Combined with features such as beamforming, software-defined technology, and automatic power regulation, 5G connectivity technology can be widely used in various fields.
Not only does 5G network technology increase network transmission bandwidth, but it is also compatible with existing 3G and 4G network technical specifications and even has more software-definable usage modes. For example, it can dynamically adjust network bandwidth to meet different connection requirements, or increase short-term power consumption to transmit network signals to farther locations through beamforming, allowing remote connection needs to also use faster network bandwidth to transmit digital content.
On the other hand, 5G network technology can also improve the connection congestion problems that were easily caused by previous 3G and 4G networks. Through more flexible power adjustment, 5G networked devices can even reduce the transmission power to zero when there is no network data transmission. At the same time, it can also release connection resources and immediately restore the connection when there is a need for data transmission, thereby making the overall network transmission smoother and reducing network bandwidth usage issues.
Not worried about being surpassed by other manufacturers
Regarding the current development of 5G networks, Qualcomm stated that in the first half of this year, more than 30 telecom operators around the world have launched 5G network services. The vast majority of regions are still providing services using sub-6GHz spectrum technology. A few regions, such as the United States and Italy, are also using millimeter wave technology. Qualcomm's products support both technologies, not just one. Therefore, it is believed that more partners will join after 2020.
In addition to more than 150 5G network-connected mobile phones using Qualcomm technology, many personal network sharing devices and 5G network modules also use Qualcomm's technology.Settlement with AppleLater, Apple products such as the iPhone expected to be launched next year will also adopt Qualcomm's 5G networking technology.
At the same time, at MWC 2019, it was announced that the processor products launched next year will be able to directly integrate 5G networking chips. Qualcomm also stated at IFA 2019 that it expects to have 5G networking chips before the end of this year.Integrated into Snapdragon 700 series processorsNext, the Snapdragon 600 series processors targeted at the mass market will also integrate 5G connectivity functions, and the high-end flagship processor products expected to be updated at the end of the year will also incorporate the same design, thereby making the phone smaller and the overall power consumption relatively lower, allowing the battery life of 5G-connected phones to be further extended.
Although Samsung, Huawei and MediaTek have all stated that they will bring 5G networking chips toIntegrated into its processor productsEven Huawei has recently launched the Kirin 990Integrated 5G networking chip design, and will be used in the upcoming Mate 30 series of mobile phones. Qualcomm expects that the market share development of its current products will not be affected, and it can even build products at a more steady pace.
In the current 5G networking application planning, Qualcomm anticipates that 5G networks will drive larger-scale edge computing and, combined with cloud-based collaborative computing, expand the application of artificial intelligence technologies, thereby forming a new computing model. Therefore, future computing models will no longer be limited to the device or the cloud, but will be more dynamically allocated based on demand in real time. Furthermore, 5G network applications are expected to enhance the development of smart driving, smart cities, smart factories, and even the larger-scale smart Internet of Things.
Powered by 5G networks, not only will data and content usage change in the future, but human-computer interaction is also expected to evolve through virtual and augmented reality. Even traditional touch-based mobile phone usage will face changes. Furthermore, improved network transmission efficiency will further reduce energy consumption, which is expected to drive further development and accelerate growth. Therefore, the market generally believes that the continued expansion of 5G network technology will drive greater technological and production capacity development.
6G network may come sooner
And as other industry players started talking aboutThe next stage of 6G network technology developmentQualcomm also mentioned its views on the development of 6G networks at the event, believing that there is still a lot of room for application in the development of existing network technology. 6G network technology will certainly not be as simple as simply increasing transmission bandwidth. It is expected to connect all devices and digital content in a smarter and more efficient way.
However, it is still a bit early to conceive of 6G network technology, so it is still in the research and imagination stage. However, Qualcomm believes that the development of network technology, which will face a major reform every 10 years, may progress at a faster pace in the future, just as the current 5G network service is much faster than the 4G network service back then.Deploy fasterAt the same time, smartphones that support 5G networking are significantly lighter and cheaper than the phones that initially supported 4G networking. Therefore, it is imagined that the next 6G network may arrive at a faster speed.
