BARCELONA � Qualcomm Technologies used the recent Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona to highlight an update to its 5G modem and to coordinate an effort among more than 20 companies to support a Third Generation Partnership Project specification called �Non-Standalone 5G New Radio.�
Rcrwireless.comreports that Qualcomm said Non-Standalone 5G NR will utilize the existing LTE radio and evolved packet core network as an anchor for mobility management and coverage while adding a new 5G radio access carrier to enable certain use cases starting in 2019. It�s an �intermediate milestone� in the development of 5G, according to Qualcomm. In the non-standalone implementation, the LTE network will continue to handle signaling while some user applications will be handled by the 5G carrier. Network operators and hardware vendors hope this hybrid implementation will enable them to start monetizing 5G by 2019, one year before full-fledged 5G deployments are expected, according to the same article.
Qualcomm also added support for the sub-6 GHz spectrum bands to its Snapdragon X50 5G modem set, introduced last fall, with support for the 28 GHz millimeter wave band. While U.S. carriers have said their first 5G deployments will be in the millimeter wave bands, some Asian operators are working in the sub-6 GHz bands.
5G NR and Non-Standalone 5G NR will both be supported by Qualcomm�s new modem chips. The company also said it has a single-chip solution that can support 5G,gigabit LTE, LTE, 3G and 2G.
