Qualcomm unveils new 5G RF front end solution

Qualcomm on Tuesday unveiled its new 5G RF Front End (RFFE) solution that supports 10Gbps data transfer rate.

The US chip giant said it was the smallest in the world and will allow 5G smartphones to be designed thinner and lighter. The RFFE module is called QTM047.

The company also unveiled Gen 7 wideband envelope tracker QET7100, 4G and 5G power amplifier module QPM6679 and diversity module QDM5579. These products all support sub-6GHz 5G and LTE spectrums. They supports multi mode, multi output, multi power amp and wideband envelope tracking.

Qualcomm is a leader in front end components, which are attached at the front of modem chips and RF transceiver chips.

5G has over 10,000 spectrum mixes. For 4G, this was less than 20. Component mixes for front end has become more complex accordingly.

Qualcomm said QET7100 is 30% more power efficient than its competitors. It supports 100MHz bandwidth for LTE and 5G. Qualcomm said the chip allows for handset makers to retain their printed circuit board size for thinner mobile devices. The antenna uses artificial intelligence, which allows for a minimal number of them to be used.

The new 5G RFFE solution is used with Qualcomm’s new 5G modem chips Snapdragon X65 and Snapdragon X62.