Tag: Module

How Many 5G Devices Were Certified in 2021?

The Global Certification Forum (GCF) tests, certifies, and connects mobile and IoT products to networks and services. Each year, they publish a Mobile Device Trends report. Its recent report highlights the quick moving migration to 5G, with over 30% of all devices in 2021 integrating the technology. 

GCF has over 150 device manufacturers, located across 25 countries, that are currently working with their team. The analysis of GCF certifications – which are recognized by network operators with interests in global markets – provides insights into the mobile technologies and functionalities being requested by operators and end users across markets worldwide.

Information gathered shows that there has been an increase in support for 5G standalone (SA) operation – nearly 90% of 5G devices. However, even though the initial rollout had surpassed LTE in terms of its proportion of all devices, 5G has fallen behind in the third year of its deployment.

In 2021, GCF certified 609 device models from 89 manufacturers. This was up 18% from the 75 in 2020, but the number of certified devices dropped nearly 15% from the previous year.

It’s possible that this decline could be partly due to the continuing shift towards 5G. In 2020, many smartphones were produced (and certified) in separate 4G and 5G model variants. Compare that to 2021, where more models came in a single 5G version. Then there’s the worldwide chip shortage, which caused problems across many industries.

The integration of 5G into devices has continued to increase rapidly. However, after an initial burst in 2020, the proportion of new devices incorporating 5G has fallen behind the level for LTE. In 2021, the percentage of all devices certified with integrated 5G went up from 21% in 2020, to 31%. Among these, there was a significant jump in the proportion supporting 5G SA operation. 65% of the 5G devices certified in 2021 (123 of 189) supported 5G SA, up from 34% in 2020. This rate continues to grow and, in 2022 year-to-date, the proportion of 5G devices supporting 5G SA is 88%.

Smartphones remained the largest category of device in 2021 (43%) with modules in second place at nearly 30%. The third largest category in 2021 was WLAN routers, which made up 8% of devices certified. This was a considerable jump from 2020 and was largely due to operators supporting fixed 5G wireless access on their 5G networks, which drove up the demand for WLAN routers.

Currently, there’s still only a handful of 5G modules and WLAN routers available. We have slowly been seeing and hearing about more to come, such as the Pepwave MAX BR2 Pro 5G. For now, be sure to check out the 5G products you can get in your hands on tomorrow, including:

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How Qualcomm’s New RFFE Module Brings 5G & WiFi 7 Together

Qualcomm logo and symbol, meaning, history, PNG

Qualcomm Technologies, known as the world’s leading wireless technology innovator, offers an extensive portfolio of RF front-end (RFFE) micro-acoustic filter products. These are designed to help address 5G design challenges while improving RF performance. This in turn helps manufacturers develop power-efficient 5G multiband, multimode mobile devices in sleek form factors and industrial designs.

The company just announced a new RFFE module yesterday. This module will bring 5G along with WiFi 7 support to all the next generation of devices. They’ve noted that this RFFE solution is the best companion for an up-to-date mobile modem as it grants access to the new spec of “5G/Wi-Fi coexistence” on a given device, along with battery savings and better performance.

Naturally, the new Qualcomm tech is compatible with smartphones, but also with other IoT devices, VR headsets, and car systems. In this case of devices, you can actually get concurrent support for 5G and Wi-Fi 7/ 6E connections, which will result in much faster speeds and performance.

“With Qualcomm Technologies’ new products, we are extending our RFFE leadership into automotive and IoT, helping OEMs address their massive industry-specific challenges like development cost and scalability,” said Christian Block, senior vice president and general manager, RFFE, QUALCOMM Germany RFFE GmbH. “OEMs using our solutions can design products with higher performance, longer battery life and reduced commercialization time, ultimately accelerating the pace of innovation and delivering improved experiences to consumers.”

What is a RFFE module? 

RFFE stands for Radio Frequency Front End. The RF front end is generally defined as everything between the antenna and the digital baseband system. For a receiver, this “between” area includes all the filters, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and down-conversion mixer(s) needed to process the modulated signals received at the antenna into signals suitable for input into the baseband analog-to-digital converter (ADC). It is for this reason that the RF front end is often called the analog-to-digital or RF-to-baseband portion of a receiver.

Qualcomm is currently sampling the new front end modules to customers. As for commercial devices featuring the new solutions, these are expected to launch by the second half of 2022.

You can read all about the latest Qualcomm RFFE module here.

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Sierra Wireless Announces New 5G Modules

According to the GSMA, 5G networks are likely to cover one-third of the world’s population and account for as many as 1.2 billion connections by the year 2025. 5G’s higher data speeds and capacity, wider coverage, and lower latency are transforming the IoT industry by enabling next-generation computing and edge-to-cloud applications, and the expansion of the mobile ecosystem to new industries such as smart manufacturing, connected healthcare and smart cities.

As a world leading IoT solutions provider, it’s always exciting to hear what Sierra Wireless and their teams are coming up with. From the MG90 5G to the newer XR series routers, and now its next generation 5G mobile broadband embedded modules, the Radio Frequency (RF) optimized EM92 Series. This latest edition to the Sierra Wireless catalog will enable the most demanding, business-critical, industrial and networking use cases.

The EM92 Series 5G modules were originally introduced back in May 2021. This series of 5G modules aims to make 5G more affordable, while building on the success of the company’s EM91 Series which includes both the EM9190 5G mmWave/Sub-6/LTE New Radio (NR) and EM9191 5G Sub-6/LTE NR standards-based M.2 modules. Security is integrated and stands at the forefront of module development to minimize security risks, as well as additional time in certification requirements.

The modules feature 3GPP Release 16 standard capabilities and provide secure connectivity at high speeds with low latency worldwide. This makes the EM92 ideal for applications such as high definition live video streaming, industrial IoT deployments like machine vision and drones, and many other new IoT applications.

The modules are RF-optimized, which helps reduce the complexity of 5G designs and improve global network coverage by supporting more global carrier bands. This provides OEMs, system integrators and other companies to easily integrate 5G connectivity into their products. End users can also make the most of 5G’s high speeds and ultra-low latency while shortening time-to-market, future proofing designs, and ensuring the security of deployment on a worldwide scale.

“For engineers and product managers who want to connect next generation 5G products, the EM92 5G module has been engineered to cater to the most demanding and bandwidth intensive business critical applications,” said Olivier Pauzet, VP of Product & IoT Solutions, Sierra Wireless. “We’ve optimized the RF in this module so that it supports multiple technologies allowing flexibility in design, and even more global carrier bands minimizing SKUs and streamlining logistics to enable the simple, rapid and cost-effective worldwide deployment of next generation 5G IoT applications. It supports both 5G and 4G TDD/FDD networks, with 68 bands for truly global coverage with a single SKU.”

“Sierra Wireless is a trusted partner of DISH,” said Stephen Bye, Chief Commercial Officer, DISH Wireless. “The new 5G EM92 Series modules will feature support for spectrum band N70 and will be the first certified module for use on our 5G network. This partnership will further enable IoT innovation.”

“Sierra Wireless’ 5G modules provide AVIWEST with the fast, low latency and reliable 5G connectivity needed to stream high-definition videos from live worldwide events such as the Olympics, to broadcasters’ production facilities, allowing broadcasters to realize the cost, performance and simplicity of 5G-powered remote production,” said Ronan Poullaouec, CTO at AVIWEST.

Sierra Wireless’ 5G EM92 Series modules are available for sampling in May, with commercial availability expected at the end of Q3 2022.

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