Qualcomm Technologies, a subsidiary of Qualcomm, has announced the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem, making Qualcomm the first company to announce a commercial 5G modem chipset solution.

The Snapdragon X50 5G modem is designed to support original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that are building the next generation of cellular devices, as well as aid operators with early 5G trials and deployments.

The X50 5G modem will initially support operation in millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum in the 28GHz band. It will employ Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology with adaptive beamforming and beam tracking techniques, which facilitates mobile broadband communications in non-line-of-sight (NLOS) environments. With 800 MHz bandwidth support, the 5G modem is designed to support peak download speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second, the company said.

Designed to be used for multi-mode 4G/5G mobile broadband, as well as fixed wireless broadband devices, the X50 5G modem can be paired with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with an integrated Gigabit LTE modem and interwork cohesively via dual-connectivity, the company added.

The X50 5G platform will include the modem, the SDR051 mmWave transceivers, and the supporting PMX50 power management chip. Sampling for the X50 5G modems is expected to begin in the second half of 2017. The first commercial products that will integrate the X50 5G modem are expected to be available during the first half of 2018.