Samsung Electronics and Qualcomm Technologies have successfully completed tests for 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) on both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum bands. This accomplishment is notable as it marks the first time 1024 QAM has been achieved in an FDD band, a significant step in advancing 5G technology. The tests, which were conducted in Samsung’s R&D lab in Korea, utilized Samsung’s 5G vRAN software and radios, along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon® X75 5G Modem-RF System equipped test device.
In the recent tests, using a 20MHz bandwidth on the FDD spectrum, the technology achieved downlink speeds up to 485Mbps, which is more than 20% higher than the speeds achievable with the currently widespread 256 QAM.
Looking ahead, Samsung said it will continue its testing on 1024 QAM with traditional RAN systems and plans to make the technology commercially available within the year. This ongoing collaboration between Samsung and Qualcomm is part of a broader effort to push the limits of 5G technology, which also saw them achieving the world’s first simultaneous 5G 2x uplink and 4x downlink carrier aggregation for FDD spectrum last year.
Key Points:
- First in FDD: Samsung and Qualcomm achieved an industry first by successfully testing 1024 QAM for the FDD spectrum.
- Enhanced Speeds: Tests showed a 20% increase in downlink speeds compared to existing 256 QAM, reaching up to 485Mbps.
- Future Availability: Samsung plans to commercialize the 1024 QAM technology later this year, following additional tests on traditional RAN systems.
- Continued Collaboration: The companies continue to collaborate on advancing 5G capabilities, building on previous achievements like 5G carrier aggregation.
