LTE-A, Carrier Aggregation, '5G', etc...

[gnoj]

No disrespect, but why would you ever assume that anyone in their right mind would go ahead and build a SoC with the integrated modem capable of 450Mbps, but limiting the capabilities to 300Mbps?

I don't know man, ask Qualcomm. They were the ones that claimed it could do 3x20 CA as far back as April. That was the question I posed earlier in this thread. My theory was that it was done simply in an attempt to provide product differentiation. Another possible reason could have been that when they first began sampling the chip, tests run at Cat 9 speeds led to thermal issues that only cleared up with time after the node matured, so they initially only felt comfortable promoting it as Cat 6/300 Mbps.

 

Aside from that, the benefit of a standalone MDM9x45 solutuon (vs integrated) is CA on the uplink (100Mbps) which makes it a Cat 10 solution. The downlink is the same 450Mbps. SD810 is only Cat 9, without CA on the uplink.

The SD 808 & 810 supported Cat 7 (w/ 2x20 MHz uplink CA) before, as mentioned in the Anandtech article & detailed in my post from November. If the new version of the SD 810 does indeed include the 9x45, a Cat 10 modem, I'm not sure why the SoC would be limited to Cat 9. If the SD 810 now supports only 50 Mbps uplink, then they've taken an unfortunate step backwards.

[milan03]

I don't know man, ask Qualcomm. They were the ones that claimed it could do 3x20 CA as far back as April. That was the question I posed earlier in this thread. My theory was that it was done simply in an attempt to provide product differentiation. Another possible reason could have been that when they first began sampling the chip, tests run at Cat 9 speeds led to thermal issues that only cleared up with time after the node matured, so they initially only felt comfortable promoting it as Cat 6/300 Mbps.

 

 

The SD 808 & 810 supported Cat 7 (w/ 2x20 MHz uplink CA) before, as mentioned in the Anandtech article & detailed in my post from November. If the new version of the SD 810 does indeed include the 9x45, a Cat 10 modem, I'm not sure why the SoC would be limited to Cat 9. If the SD 810 now supports only 50 Mbps uplink, then they've taken an unfortunate step backwards.

 

I've posted a few charts that clearly explain the strategy behind 3x CA with 40MHz aggregate capacity. There is absolutely nothing unclear to me, it's all common sense. Qualcomm's only Cat 9/10 solution is MDM9x45, so that's in Snapdragon 810. Standalone MDM9x45 is the only Cat 10 Solution by Qualcomm at this point according to their loud and clear presser.

 

[gnoj]

I've posted a few charts that clearly explain the strategy behind 3x CA with 40MHz aggregate capacity. There is absolutely nothing unclear to me, it's all common sense. Qualcomm's only Cat 9/10 solution is MDM9x45, so that's in Snapdragon 810. Standalone MDM9x45 is the only Cat 10 Solution by Qualcomm at this point according to their loud and clear presser.

And I have posted my own links to show that the 9x35 modem, as implemented in the SD 808/810, supported 3x20 (that's 20+20+20 aggregate capacity, not just 20+10+10), which is a step up from how 9x35 had been added to earlier LTE-A phones with the SD 805.

 

So either the initial PR in April from Qualcomm re the SD 810 had a typo (which then led to errors in all the articles like the Anandtech one that relied on it), or there is something about this we're not getting.

 

In any case, it's largely a moot point and in the past. Going forward, whether the modem in the SD 810 is still some sort of modified 9x35, or the brand new 9x45, I hope that by the time it is released that they will have found a way to enable Cat 10 uplink CA, if they haven't already. Personally, I'd rather be able to utilize two uplink carriers together than a third for downlink.

[milan03]

And I have posted my own links to show that the 9x35 modem, as implemented in the SD 808/810, supported 3x20 (that's 20+20+20 aggregate capacity, not just 20+10+10), which is a step up from how 9x35 had been added to earlier LTE-A phones with the SD 805.

 

So either the initial PR in April from Qualcomm re the SD 810 had a typo (which then led to errors in all the articles like the Anandtech one that relied on it), or there is something about this we're not getting.

 

In any case, it's largely a moot point and in the past. Going forward, whether the modem in the SD 810 is still some sort of modified 9x35, or the brand new 9x45, I hope that by the time it is released that they will have found a way to enable Cat 10 uplink CA, if they haven't already. Personally, I'd rather be able to utilize two uplink carriers together than a third for downlink.

Yeah, no those links aren't showing 3x20MHz in SD810. There hasn't been a single test conducted with 3x 20MHz using snapdragon 810 prior to upgrade to Cat 9. All those old tests are clearly 20+10+10=40MHz, and for a reason. Cat 6 can only do 40MHz of aggregate spectrum. duh...

 

Ulm, Germany - Nokia Networks and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), have completed interoperability testing of LTE-Advanced three-band Carrier Aggregation (3x CA), allowing more operators to achieve subscriber data rates of up to 300 Mbps in their network environments.

 

The tests utilized the Nokia Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station and Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 processor and allows operators, such as SK Telecom, to offer data rates of up to 300 Mbps to their subscribers using a network of three frequencies (20 MHz + 10 MHz + 10 MHz). 3x CA provides an alternative option to operators to reach 40Mhz carrier aggregation, as this option was previously available only to the operators with at least two bands of 20 MHz bandwidth each."

 

 

No doubt in my mind that original 810 was Cat 6 capable of 40MHz aggregate downlink capacity.

Also, going forward, only if you REALLY have no idea how Qualcomm launches their next gen modems, you'd guess that SD810 is MDM9x35. And I've been telling you why that's not the case , but I guess that wasn't enough, so you continue to summarize your posts assuming 9x35 in there, magically with Cat 9 capabilities. 

 

I'll just drop it right here. Enough is enough.

[gnoj]

Yeah, no those links aren't showing 3x20MHz in SD810. There hasn't been a single test conducted with 3x 20MHz using snapdragon 810 prior to upgrade to Cat 9. All those old tests are clearly 20+10+10=40MHz, and for a reason.

 

...

 

No doubt in my mind that original 810 was Cat 6 capable of 40MHz aggregate downlink capacity.

It's right in the

headline: — New High-Performance 64-bit Snapdragon Processors Integrate Cat 6 LTE Advanced / Carrier Aggregation up to 60 MHz —

 

So fine, Qualcomm made a typo.

[milan03]

It's right in the

headline: — New High-Performance 64-bit Snapdragon Processors Integrate Cat 6 LTE Advanced / Carrier Aggregation up to 60 MHz —

 

So fine, Qualcomm made a typo.

If anything, that original 300Mbps 3x CA capable integrated baseband from April had lower clocked DSP, while the current one has increased DSP clock capable of more processing bandwidth. It's the same exact 20nm manufacturing process, which means that upgrading the existing baseband silicon wasn't necessarily a difficult thing to do.

 

And finally, there must be a good reason why they've never commercially launched that Cat 6 with 3x CA with Snapdragon. This is obviously much better for the consumer and operator, having integrated MDM9x45 Cat 9 capable IP Stack built into the flagship SoC for 2015. 

[milan03]

Samsung Electronics Launches the World’s First LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation Smartphone

 

http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/samsung-electronics-launches-the-worlds-first-lte-advanced-tri-band-carrier-aggregation-smartphone/

 

They really wanted to be the first

[belusnecropolis]

Samsung Electronics Launches the World’s First LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation Smartphone

 

http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/samsung-electronics-launches-the-worlds-first-lte-advanced-tri-band-carrier-aggregation-smartphone/

 

They really wanted to be the first

Neat! Is this S compatible? I just saw a notice about availability varying by country.

[EvanA]

Samsung Electronics Launches the World’s First LTE Advanced Tri-Band Carrier Aggregation Smartphone

 

http://global.samsungtomorrow.com/samsung-electronics-launches-the-worlds-first-lte-advanced-tri-band-carrier-aggregation-smartphone/

 

They really wanted to be the first

The question is does it end up on Sprint or just in Korea?