On Tuesday, Samsung and Qualcomm announced that they are working together to develop 5G small cells – opening the door for massive 5G network speed, capacity, coverage, and ultra-low latency. A Qualcomm FSM100xx-based Samsung 5G Small Cell product that are expected to begin sampling in 2020.
To effectively scale 5G NR networks, the industry is expected to increasingly rely on small cells as foundational building blocks. During its annual 4G/5G Summit, Qualcomm executives repeatedly called out the role 5G could play in opening up a new enterprise and industrial applications. Because the vast majority of connected activities enterprises and industries rely on upon taking place inside, coupled with the challenges that come with an inside-out approach to in-building coverage that means bringing RF signal inside with small cells.
Qualcomm Senior Director of Technical Marketing Rasmus Hellberg also discussed bringing 5G indoors in a separate presentation for media and analysts. He said outdoor millimeter wave propagation faces challenges like bouncing off of trees, but that’s not as much of an issue in indoor environments like a stadium. “It’s perfect for the stadium,” he said. He hopes to get rid of this fixed Ethernet connections and make everything wireless.
Announced in May, the FSM100xx is expected to provide superior 5G features, including MIMO baseband functionality in a compact package. With Samsung’s leadership in 4G/5G infrastructure, Samsung’s 5G small cell platform is expected to provide mobile network operators with a superior tool capable of supporting outdoor and indoor deployment scenarios.
Samsung projects will sample the new small cells in the 2020 timeframe.
