Qualcomm Announces Category 10 LTE Modem With Support For Theoretical 450Mbps Maximum Speed

Qualcomm has announced its latest multi-band multi-mode LTE modem for smartphones in the Gobi 9×45 series modem and companion QEF3100 envelope tracker.

The Gobi 9×45 modem supports Category 10 LTE and global carrier aggregation for download speeds of up to 450Mbps and upload speeds of up to 100Mbps. However, the 450Mbps maximum speed requires carrier aggregation support at the network level along with 60Mhz of contiguous spectrum, which no service provider currently has deployed. The modem uses 20nm manufacturing technology and supports all major cellular standards and radio frequency bands.

It also supports the major location standards including GPS, Glonass, and Galileo, as well as LTE Broadcast, VoLTE, and dual SIM LTE. The QEF3100 envelope tracker uses 30% less board area, creates less heat, and is more efficient. Qualcomm will also allow device manufacturers  to create even thinner modem and envelope tracker designs that perform better for their specific hardware designs. The modem and envelope tracker combination are expected to ship commercially sometime next year.