Skip to main content

Qualcomm and Ericsson’s successful 5G New Radio test heralds next level of IoT

Another day, another successful test for upcoming 5G technology: Qualcomm and Ericsson announced on Wednesday morning that the two companies had successfully completed an over-the-air call via 5G New Radio (NR) on the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The field trial, held at Ericsson’s American headquarters in Texas, was done with a Snapdragon 888-powered test device and a Snapdragon X60 5G modem via Ericsson’s Distributed Innovation Network.

“The promise of 5G NR in the CBRS band offers nearly unlimited potential for enterprise applications and industries, and we are excited to once again collaborate with Qualcomm Technologies in this industry-first achievement,” said Paul Challoner, vice president of network product solutions for Ericsson North America, in a press release.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

New Radio, initially developed by the international 3rd Generation Partnership Project, is the name for the radio access technology that’s been designed and developed for fifth-generation mobile networks. It’s essentially the ground-up redesign that communications standards need to cope with the data load that 5G represents.

CBRS is a particular broadcast band in the United States, between 3.55 and 3.7GHz, which was only authorized for full commercial use in early 2020. Under new Federal Communications Commission rules, a wireless carrier can use 5G mobile networks on the CBRS band without the need to obtain spectrum licenses from the FCC, though commercial access appears to be on the lowest access tier below federal use. Opening up a new part of the frequency band for wireless use, in combination with the new technologies that enable the high-speed networks in the first place, helped wireless companies free up a nice big piece of “real estate” on the electromagnetic spectrum to use for accelerated 5G data speeds.

The successful trial run of Qualcomm and Ericsson’s 5G NR call on CBRS is another sign of the imminent American rollout of 5G networks, and with it, what Challoner calls the “Industry 4.0 evolution.”

In theory, the CBRS band enables the deployment of private cellular networks with better data, faster response times, and more reliable connections. That opens the door to all of the next-generation options that 5G allows, such as widespread industrial use, digitalization, manufacturing, and fabrication, which can help take the Internet of Things to the next level, . Everything’s about to get much faster.

“This 5G NR call over CBRS spectrum is a significant milestone with Ericsson in enabling the full potential of 5G and will help address the increasing data demand and evolving use cases for wireless connectivity among consumers, enterprises, governments and other organizations,” said Francesco Grilli, vice president of product management for Qualcomm, in a release. “We are excited to create opportunities for deployment and to enable better user experiences in a wide array of scenarios.”

Editors' Recommendations

Thomas Hindmarch
Thomas Hindmarch is a freelance writer with 20 years' experience in the gaming and technology fields. He has previously…
Your next phone could get a huge 5G upgrade, thanks to AI
Qualcomm Snapdragon X80 Modem-RF chip.

It’s that time of year again when Qualcomm ushers in its next generation of 5G modem technology. Announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC ) 2024, this year’s Snapdragon X80 5G Modem-RF system is the successor to last year’s Snapdragon X75, and it builds on the 5G Advanced foundation laid last year with more raw power and new AI features.

While the Snapdragon X75 moved the needle by adding support for the latest 5G Advanced standards, we’re still in that fourth phase of 5G technology, otherwise known as 3GPP Release 18 — and most carrier networks are still catching up. So, with no new standards to embrace, Qualcomm has focused on improving the inside of the Snapdragon X80 to take even fuller advantage of these cutting-edge 5G technologies.
The magic of AI-powered 5G

Read more
This tiny dongle will change 5G connectivity forever
TCL Linkkey IK511 5G Dongle against a blue background.

TCL is having a busy start to 2024. First, it announced a staggering number of new smartphones and two new tablets at CES, and now it’s unveiling something else at MWC 2024 — one of the world’s first 5G dongles that takes advantage of the latest power-efficient 5G standards.

TCL Mobile’s Linkkey IK511 is a pocketable new 5G adapter that’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X35 5G Modem-RF system, which debuted last year as the first 5G modem to support the new NR-Light “RedCap” standard.
5G for everyone, everything, everywhere
TCL Linkkey IK511 TCL

Read more
T-Mobile just set another 5G speed record
Cell phone tower shooting off pink beams with a 5G logo next to it.

T-Mobile’s rivals may be nipping at its heels in the 5G race, but the Uncarrier is determined to stay ahead of the game. It not only boasts the fastest and most expansive 5G network in the U.S., but it’s actively working on technologies that will help it reach even greater peak speeds.

Two years ago, T-Mobile used a relatively new technique known as 5G Carrier Aggregation (5G CA) to achieve the kind of 3Gbps download speeds on midband frequencies that had previously been the exclusive domain of extremely high (and extremely short-range) mmWave technologies. Now, it’s chalked up another 5G first by taking advantage of the latest developments to shatter the traditional cap on upload speeds over sub-6GHz frequencies.
T-Mobile's newest 5G record

Read more