Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have achieved a significant milestone in the telecommunications industry by successfully completing tests of 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) for Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum bands. This achievement positions both companies as the first to achieve such success for the FDD band, underscoring their commitment to enhancing 5G performance and improving spectral efficiency in operator networks.
Advanced QAM technology allows for more efficient data transmission by increasing the amount of bits carried in each transmission. While 256 QAM is widely used in commercial networks, the recently defined 1024 QAM in 3GPP Release 17 specifications enhances spectral resource utilization and enables demanding mobile services in terms of speed, such as high-speed live video streaming and online gaming.
Tests conducted in Samsung’s Research and Development laboratory in Korea utilized Samsung’s vRAN 5G software and radios for the 2.1 GHz (FDD) and 3.5 GHz (TDD) bands, along with a Qualcomm Technologies test device in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon® X75 5G modem-equipped mobile phone.
This milestone is noteworthy as, using a 20 MHz bandwidth, the companies achieved 485 Mbps, more than 20% higher than what is provided by the current 256 QAM. Furthermore, Samsung plans to continue testing traditional 1024 QAM RAN, anticipating this technology will be commercially available within this year.
Ji-Yun Seol, Vice President and Head of Network Business Product Strategy at Samsung Electronics, emphasized: “Improving spectral efficiency is essential for developing next-generation solutions. This achievement underscores our continuous commitment to pushing the boundaries of mobile technology. Our collaborative efforts with Qualcomm Technologies have once again yielded impressive results, and we look forward to leveraging our combined expertise to drive innovation in networks.”
Sunil Patil, Vice President of Product Management at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., added: “We are honored to have collaborated with Samsung on this pioneering industry achievement. This success demonstrates our unwavering commitment to supporting operators in their efforts to enhance 5G performance and increase spectral efficiency. By leveraging advanced QAM technology, we are empowering operators to maximize spectrum resources and deliver seamless high-speed mobile services to 5G users.”
Late last year, both companies achieved the world’s first simultaneous 2x uplink and 4x downlink 5G carrier aggregation for FDD spectrum, reflecting their ongoing collaboration to push the boundaries of 5G mobile technology.
Samsung has been a leader in delivering comprehensive 5G solutions, including chipsets, radios, and cores, and through ongoing research and development, the company drives industry advancement with a leading market product portfolio. Samsung currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators, connecting hundreds of millions of users globally.
Referrer: MiMub in Spanish
