Qualcomm Packs Every LTE Radio Into a Single Chip

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, April 9, 2013 0 comments

Qualcomm just made life a whole lot easier for Apple and Samsung. The company has combined every one of the available LTE radios into one family of chips, finally allowing hardware makers to build just one phone that works on every network. The RF360 Front End Solution will work with the seven cellular modes: LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, WCDMA, EV-DO, CDMA 1x, TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE and work with legacy 2G and 4G networks. The chips also will have a smarter tuner and better power consumption and heat reduction.

Tackling the myriad wireless networks with a single phone has been a nightmare for handset makers. With upward of 40 radio bands worldwide, companies like Apple and Samsung have had to release multiple versions of their LTE phones so every carrier in every country is covered. Such LTE fragmentation is the reason there are three versions of the iPhone 5.

Devices with the new chips are expected to launch in the second half of this year. That’s just in time for a new iPhone.