Qualcomm Technologies unveiled its latest Snapdragon X75 5G modem architecture that is charged with the tall tasks of supporting a divergent cast of spectrum bands, working across a yet-to-be-solidified 5G standard, and powering a still materializing fixed-wireless access (FWA) market.

The “modem-to-antenna” architecture, which is currently being “sampled” with expected commercial availability later this year, can aggregate spectrum across sub-6 GHz and millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands to increase network capacity. This includes 10-carrier aggregation for mmWave bands, meaning it can combine up to 10 separate carrier channels to act as a single super-channel for higher speeds, and carrier aggregation options for sub-6 GHz bands.

These features are becoming increasingly important for operators that are cobbling together diverse spectrum assets to power their 5G networks. This includes the ability to better support enterprise and private 5G use cases that can take advantage of network slicing capabilities.

Qualcomm also infused the new architecture with a converged transceiver that supports mmWave and sub-6 GHz spectrum bands to reduce costs, footprint, and power requirements; updated artificial intelligence (AI) sensor-assisted mmWave beam management that builds off the vendor’s previous X65 architecture; and support for Qualcomm’s recently unveiled Snapdragon Satellite feature.

The architecture also supports 3GPP’s recently unveiled Release 17 specification for 5G technology and is in line to support the still coalescing Release 18 specification. That specification is being tied to what most will be calling “5G-Advanced” services.

That specification package has a preliminary freeze date of December 2023, at which point vendors should be able to start pushing those approved updates into commercial equipment.

Durga Malladi, SVP and GM for cellular modems and infrastructure at Qualcomm, explained in a press briefing that the vendor was confident in Qualcomm’s Release 18 support, adding “we have very clear visibility into that because we've been driving a lot of that.”

ABI Research predicts 5G-Advanced radios will start gaining traction in the market between 2024 and 2026. The firm expects the consumer infrastructure market will lead the space, with 75% of 5G base stations serving the market being upgraded to the 5G-Advanced specification by 2030. The enterprise infrastructure market will lag, hitting about half of that upgrade ratio.

Qualcomm is also using the X75 architecture to power the latest iteration of its Fixed Wireless Access Platform. This platform now includes mmWave, sub-6 GHz, Wi-Fi 7, and 10 Gb/s Ethernet support, and has a converged architecture that provides similar cost, space, and power savings noted for the X75 platform.

Malladi noted this support could help solidify efforts around the 5G FWA market.

“This is one of the biggest growth segments as we start thinking in terms of where 5G-based deployments are heading,” Malladi said, later adding “we expect that with this platform and the flexibility that it brings in, it will accelerate the overall global adoption of 5G-based fixed-wireless access.”

Analyst firms have been bullish on FWA’s potential, though operator interest remains mixed.

Counterpoint Research last year predicted FWA broadband subscriptions will surge from around 75 million at the end of 2021 to 462 million worldwide connections by 2030. ABI Research concurred, predicting worldwide 5G FWA connections would reach 58 million subscriptions in 2026.

However, operator interest is divided by geography and other ambitions.

Domestically, Verizon and T-Mobile US are both aggressively touting their FWA plays, with each supporting several million customers. Conversely, AT&T is more cautious on the market and instead favors a fiber-based approach to broadband services.

Counterpoint Principal Analyst Tina Lu also noted some European markets are more focused on driving fiber broadband infrastructure “thus delaying the rollout of 5G FWA networks.” Her firm also forecasts that lower fiber penetration in areas like Africa, India, Latin America, and South Asia markets outside of China will drive 5G FWA subscriber growth.

The latest Qualcomm launch comes on the heels of the vendor's X35 architecture release that targets the opposite end of the 5G performance spectrum. That chip uses the 3GPP NR-Light standard to target less data and resource-intensive 5G use cases and slots as an alternative between high-speed modems for enhanced mobile broadband and low-speed IoT communications.