Samsung’s Multi-Mode Exynos Chipsets Help Bring the 5G Era to Mobile Consumers

Samsung’s 5G modem and RF chips are currently in mass production for the latest premium mobile devices

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced that its 5G communication solutions are in mass production for the latest premium mobile devices. The 5G multi-mode chipsets include the previously-introduced Exynos Modem 5100 as well as a new single-chip radio frequency transceiver, the Exynos RF 5500, and supply modulator solution, the Exynos SM 5800, all supporting 5G New Radio (5G-NR) sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) spectrum and legacy radio access technologies that provide mobile device manufacturers with optimum network communication solutions for the 5G era.

“Samsung has been an innovator in mobile communication technologies with a strong portfolio of market-proven solutions, and we are well-prepared to extend our leadership into 5G,” said Inyup Kang, president of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Our multi-mode solutions, the Exynos Modem 5100, Exynos RF 5500 and Exynos SM 5800 will together enable powerful yet energy-efficient 5G performance along with the network versatility that allows users to stay connected wherever they are.”

Exynos Modem 5100 is Samsung’s first 5G modem solution that had completed preparations for commercialization in August, 2018, with a successful over-the-air (OTA) 5G-NR data call test. The modem supports virtually all networks from 5G’s sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums to 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSPA and 4G LTE networks in a single chip.

For reliable and power-efficient performance, the modem is paired with RF and supply modulator solutions, Exynos RF 5500 and Exynos SM 5800 respectively.

Samsung’s Exynos RF 5500 supports legacy networks and 5G-NR sub-6GHz networks in a single chip, offering added flexibility in smartphone designs, especially for today’s premium mobile devices. RF transceivers are key components that allow smartphones to transmit and receive data over the cellular network. When transmitting voice or data from a smartphone to a carrier, the RF up-converts the modem’s baseband signal to high GHz-range cellular frequencies so that data can be sent swiftly over the connected network. Vice versa, when receiving, the signal is down-converted by the RF to baseband frequencies for it to be processed by the modem. The Exynos RF 5500 has 14 receiver paths for download, and supports 4×4 MIMO (Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) and higher-order 256 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) scheme to maximize the data transfer rate over the 5G network.

The Exynos SM 5800 is a low-power supply modulator solution for 2G to 5G-NR sub-6GHz that supports up to 100MHz envelope-tracking (ET) bandwidths. As the possibilities for richer content with higher data rates open up with the arrival of 5G, maintaining a highly efficient RF has become more critical in ensuring a longer battery life in a mobile device. The Exynos SM 5800 demonstrates up to a 30-percent power reduction by dynamically adjusting the supply voltage according to the modem’s RF input signal. With an advanced power optimizing ET solution for RF, data can be transmitted more efficiently and reliably over the incredibly fast 5G network.

Both the Exynos RF 5500 and SM 5800’s technological breakthroughs have been recognized by the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) committee and were presented at ISSCC 2019 held at San Francisco last February.

As the industry moves forward to unfold and discover the full benefits of 5G, Samsung plans to continue pushing for innovation in mobile communication technologies, including RF transceiver and phased array solutions for mmWave along with 5G-embedded mobile processors, that will further drive the proliferation of new applications in mobile devices and emerging industries.