During this week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Fibocom unveiled a 5G sub-6GHz and mm-wave module series based on the Snapdragon X75 and X72 5G modem-RF system.

By integrating AI innovations in architecture design, it is said to improve 5G cellular capabilities and spectrum use significantly.

The Fx190(W) and Fx180(W) modules adopt multiple innovations from the Qualcomm Snapdragon X75 and X72 5G Advanced-ready modem-RF system. The modules bring cellular performance to mass data transmission applications such as mobile broadband, FWA, enterprise 5G and industrial IoT.

Equipped with the Qualcomm 5G AI processor Gen 2, Snapdragon X75 is the world’s first modem-RF with a dedicated AI tensor accelerator. With 2.5x improved AI performance over Gen 1, it lets modules improve the 5G cellular capabilities with fast speed, and extended network coverage and spectrum use.

Powered by the Snapdragon X75 and X72, and a quad-core A55 CPU, the modules provide a better 5G experience for FWA applications, offering optimised power consumption and multiple Wifi 7 selections.

Compliant with 3GPP Release 17, the FG190(W) and FM190(W) modules adopt LGA and M.2 form factors into the design, driving flexibility and scalability in various IoT terminal devices. By leveraging the spectrum resources for a broader reach of faster speeds, the modules support sub-6 GHz and mm-wave dual-connectivity, as well as NR 10CA with up to 1000MHz bandwidth in the mm-wave frequency band, boosting the maximum downlink speed up to 10Gbit/s.

In addition to the Fx190 series, Fibocom launched the FG180(W) and FM180(W) based on the Snapdragon X72, which supports up to 400MHz bandwidth of NR 4CA under mm-wave bands, and 200MHz bandwidth of NR 3CA under sub-6GHz. The maximum downlink rate under the aggregation of the two can reach 4.4Gbit/s.

The Fx180 series is optimised for the FWA market and supports multi-gigabit uplink and downlink rates.

The FM190 and FM180 series are M.2 standard and pin compatible with Fibocom FM170, FM160 and FM150 5G modules. However, the FG190(W) and FG180(W) are designed to provide Open CPU with rich interfaces such as PCIe, Ethernet, USXGMII, uart, I²S, USB 3.1 and UIM.

For the fast-growing 5G FWA market, the FG190(W) and FG180(W) offer a comprehensive module in combination with Wifi 7 technology, including tri-band Wifi 7 for CPE (BE19000) and dual-band Wi-Fi 7 for Mifi (BE5800). Benefiting from the Wifi 7 capabilities such as 160MHz and 320MHz bandwidth, 6GHz frequency band, 4096QAM, and multi-link operation (MLO), they ensure wifi network coverage and better speed experience in home, enterprise and manufacturing plants.

The FG190 and FG180 also support wired network deployment, allowing maximum 10Gbit Ethernet, satisfying different application requirements. The Fx190 and Fx180 also support various global operating systems, including Open WRT and RDK-B, to help reduce time to the market.

“We are excited to have Fibocom develop module products incorporating the leading-edge capabilities of our Snapdragon X75 and X72,” said Gautam Sheoran, vice president at Qualcomm. “The unparalleled performance and power efficiency of Snapdragon X75 and X72 in both sub-6 and mm-wave technologies ushers in the next phase of 5G evolution in all major verticals such as FWA, industrial IoT and beyond.”

Dan Schieler, senior vice president at Fibocom, added: “We are proud of cooperating with Qualcomm, the most valuable partner of Fibocom, to launch the leading-edge 5G sub-6GHz and mm-wave module series Fx190(W) and Fx180(W) based on Snapdragon X75 and X72 at MWC Barcelona. It’s great to see that in terms of offering 5G connectivity service, we are now diving deep into more and more vertical markets to provide the improved quality of 5G service.”