Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G modem and Wi-Fi 7
Qualcomm's presence at MWC 2022 began with a keynote speech by CEO Cristiano Amon. With the main mobile CPU for 2022 already announced late last year, the stars were the new Snapdragon X70 modem, the FastConnect 7800 processor with Wi-Fi 7 compatibility, and initiatives outside of the smartphone sector.
The business also emphasized its efforts on always-connected PCs (ACPC), AR / XR - which Qualcomm has tied to the current "metaverse" popular term - and highly profitable automotive and industrial applications for processors and networking solutions.
Snapdragon X70 - the latest Snapdragon for iPhone?
The Snapdragon X70 modem is Qualcomm's next-generation 5G modem, replacing the Snapdragon X65 modem featured in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. The new X70 modem varies from its predecessors in that it supports the same spectrum and has theoretical maximum speeds of 10 Gigabits per second. It also has a new AI core.
According to Qualcomm, the 5G AI processor provides more efficient resource utilization, optimizing management for lower battery consumption, smart network selection, and antenna tuning. The findings are "two-digit improvements" when combined with Qualcomm's third-generation 5G PowerSave technology.
Qualcomm will never admit it, but the Snapdragon X70 could be the last third-party modem to power the iPhone series. Apple is likely to begin using its own 5G modems in its phone lineup in 2019, using Intel IP and technology.
The business intends to ship only 20% of Apple's modems by 2023, foreshadowing the impending release of the first Cupertino-designed modem. Another option is that, while Apple's modem will debut in the iPhone 2022, Snapdragon components will continue to be used in existing versions, such as the X60 modem in the iPhone 13.
Aside from that, the Snapdragon X70 modem is slated to begin sampling in the second half of 2022, with commercial devices available "before the end of the year."
The FastConnect 7800 brings Wi-Fi 7 and BT 5.3
Qualcomm has also launched its FastConnect 7800 controller on the other end of the communication spectrum. The component was billed as "the world's first announced Wi-Fi 7 device," according to the manufacturer.
Wi-Fi 7 increases possible downlink speeds fourfold by employing techniques such as multi-link operation - MLO, which aggregates channels from multiple frequencies in a manner similar to carrier aggregation (CA) in cellular networks. MediaTek was the first to try to attract attention by performing live demonstrations of the technology at CES 2022, but the device was not announced at the time.
Wi-Fi 7 will use the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz frequency bands and will be backward compatible with the present Wi-Fi 6 standard (E rel.2). MLO connection speeds can reach up to 40 Gbps (theoretical, of course), which manufacturers tout as perfect for AR / VR applications.
According to Qualcomm, the new FastConnect 7800 controller also has lower latencies of "less than 2 ms" and supports Bluetooth 5.3, featuring dual Bluetooth compatibility for faster pairing and extended range.
It is crucial to note, however, that the Wi-Fi 7 standard is not even in draft form, with ratification likely in 2024.
