Smartphones running the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC are still under the process of hitting the market, and we already have details about the next-in-line Snapdragon X50. SoftBank, in its earnings reports, confirmed the Snapdragon 855 SoC which would come with 5G-capable modem.
The next-gen processor is expected to be announced towards the end of this year with first batch of devices shipping in 2019. According to a report on Android Headlines, the details emerged through SoftBank’s presentation in which performance of each company were mentioned and in the Sprint section, the bank confirmed the new chipset.
With 5G-capable modem, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 will essentially be a dual-modem chipset as it will need support for 4G LTE as well. SoftBank also mentioned its partners in the presentation which include Samsung, Ericsson, Nokia and also Qualcomm.
The presentation did not reveal much about the chipset, but it is being called as the ‘Snapdragon 855 Fusion Platform’. Now the ‘Fusion’ bit could either be a marketing gimmick or possibly refer to certain features which will be entirely new.
Manufacturer partners, namely Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia, will start deploying Massive MIMO sites starting this year and expand to major markets in 2019. In the meanwhile, Qualcomm is working on the modem that smartphones and other devices wil use to connect to 5G network.
5G is the new buzz word and global markets are looking at embracing the technology at the earliest. Operators are already deploying Massive MIMO, including in India, whereas, device makers are testing device compatibility to usher in the IoT era. At MWC 2018, Huawei unveiled a full range of end-to-end (E2E) 5G product solutions. The range covers the core network, the bearer network, base station and terminals. The company said that the first wave of 5G deployment will take place in buildings and densely-populated urban areas.
In India, 5G trials are underway and the government is working to connect all the dots to ensure that the country does not miss the 5G services bus. Recently, telecom minister Manoj Sinha said, “We missed 2G, 3G and 4G bus but we are not going to miss 5G bus. A lot of work has been done in our department regarding it both at government and at service providers level.”