Qualcomm Technologies just introduced the first commercial LTE modem that's capable of delivering fiber-like gigabit speeds.
The Snapdragon X16 LTE sits so far out in front of the technology curve, the industry may describe it as 5G at some point in the near future. The super-fast mobile modem is either at the very end of the fourth generation of wireless technology or is at the front of the fifth one.
The X16 uses the same Category 9 spectrum as currently available modem, but it finds it edge with carrier aggregation -- that's combing multiple lanes of data to faciliate faster transfers.
Along with carrier aggregation, the X16 leverages 4x4 MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output). MIMO moderates the pace of data transfers to ensure it moves as efficiently as possible.
And on top of all of that, the Snapdragon X16 and its transceiver support all of the major cellular technologies that are still in use. Snapdragon All Mode supports LTE FDD, LTE TDD, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, and GSM/EDGE, according to Qualcomm Technologies.
Qualcomm Technologies already has big ideas about how consumers can and will leverage a gigabit LTE modem. Some of the use cases the Qualcomm Incorporated subsidiary put forward include streaming HD video flawlessly at 60 frame per second, streaming 360 virtual reality video of live events, downloading entire movies in mere seconds and to rely on cloud accounts as true extensions of local storage space.
"With speeds that rival the read speeds of local flash memory, Gigabit Class LTE lets you to use the cloud as an 'infinite extension' to your device's storage," says Qualcomm.
The Snapdragon X16 serves as a "significant milestone for the mobile industry," says Cristiano Amon, executive vice president for Qualcomm Technologies and president of QCT.
“Not only does the Snapdragon X16 blur the lines between wired and wireless broadband, but marks an important step toward 5G as we enable deeper unlicensed spectrum integration with LTE and more advanced MIMO techniques to support growing data consumption and deliver an even faster and smoother user experience,” Amon added.
