Samsung's new LTE modem is capable of achieving 1.2 Gbps downlink speed

The LTE modem achieves the incredible downlink speed by using 6CA (carrier aggregation) technology

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, announced on Monday, that it has developed an advanced LTE (long-term evolution) modem technology capable of achieving whopping 1.2 Gbps downlink speed. 

The LTE modem achieves this downlink speed by using 6CA (carrier aggregation) technology, which is dubbed as Cat.18. Carrier aggregation (CA) combines a given number of component carriers with various bandwidths, improving data transfer rates and network performance. 

Earlier this year, the Samsung Exynos 9 Series (8895) SoC presented its Cat.16 LTE modem with 1.0 gigabit (Gb) downlink speed and the industry’s first 5CA support. 

By increasing the aggregation capability from the previous model’s five bandwidths to six, the new LTE modem technology from Samsung will offer faster data transfers.  

The technology also supports 4×4 MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) and higher-order 256 QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) scheme to maximise the data transfer rate. 

The new LTE modem will allow mobile device users to download a full-length movie in HD resolution within 10 seconds. Users will also be able to enjoy buffer-less video calls and mobile live-broadcasting. 

  

“With the increase of high-quality online content services, the demand for high-performance LTE modems continue to rise as well,” said Woonhaing Hur, Vice President of System LSI Protocol Development at Samsung Electronics. “The 1.2Gbps maximum downlink speed with 6CA support highlights Samsung’s leading design capabilities and positions Samsung well for the upcoming 5G era.” 

  

The new Cat.18 6CA-supported LTE modem technology is expected to be in mass production by the end of this year.