The new chipsets were announced today at “Samsung Networks: Redefined,” the company’s virtual public event highlighting notable 5G accomplishments and new solutions for network transformation. At the event, Samsung emphasized its experience in developing in-house chipsets for more than two decades and reiterated the significant investments behind the launch of multiple generations of chipsets starting from 3G, leading to today’s cutting-edge 5G solutions.

The newly introduced chipsets are designed to take Samsung’s next generation 5G lineup to a new level, boosting performance, increasing power efficiency and reducing the size of the 5G solutions.

Samsung’s newly-introduced chips are:

• 3^rd Generation mmWave RFIC:
  This new chip follows prior generation RFICs from Samsung. The first generation, introduced in 2017, powered the company’s 5G FWA solutions supporting the world’s first 5G home broadband service in the U.S. Two years later, the second generation powered Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro, the industry’s first mmWave 5G NR radio, which has since been widely deployed in the U.S.
  
  Samsung’s 3^rd generation RFIC chip supports both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums, and will be embedded in Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro. The chip incorporates advanced technology that reduces antenna size by nearly 50%, maximizing the 5G radio’s interior space. Moreover, the latest RFIC chip improves power consumption, resulting in a more compact-sized, lightweight 5G radio. Lastly, output power and coverage of the new RFIC chip have increased, doubling output power of the next generation 5G Compact Macro.

• 2^nd Generation 5G Modem SoC:
  Samsung’s first 5G modem SoCs, introduced in 2019, powered the company’s new 5G baseband unit and Compact Macro. To date, more than 200,000 of these 5G modem SoCs have been shipped.
  
  This new second generation chip will enable Samsung’s forthcoming baseband unit to have twice the capacity, while cutting power consumption in half per cell, in comparison to the previous generation. Moreover, supporting both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums, it offers beamforming and increased power efficiency for Samsung’s next generation 5G Compact Macro and Massive MIMO radio, while reducing the size for both solutions.

• DFE-RFIC Integrated Chip:
  In 2019, the first Digital/Analog Front End (DAFE) chip was introduced by Samsung, serving as an essential component of 5G radios (including Samsung’s 5G Compact Macro), by converting analog-to-digital and vice versa, and supporting both 28GHz and 39GHz spectrums.
  
  This new chip combines RFIC and DFE functions for both below-6GHz and mmWave spectrums. By integrating these functions, the chip not only doubles frequency bandwidth, but also reduces the size and increases output power for Samsung’s next generation solutions, including 5G Compact Macro.

“This newly unveiled chipset is the fundamental component of our state-of-art 5G solutions, developed through a long-standing R&D effort that enables Samsung to be at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge 5G technologies,” said Junehee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “As one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, we are committed to developing the most innovative chips for the next phase of 5G advancement, integrated with the features mobile operators seek to stay competitive.”

“5G chipsets are critical to achieving the performance capabilities required for next-generation network deployments,” stated Anshel Sag, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Samsung’s long-standing expertise in developing chipsets in-house is a key differentiator, positioning it as a leader in the delivery of 5G network solutions with the features and benefits operators seek to advance their 5G strategies.”

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios, and core. This includes the creation and shipment of innovative chips from Samsung’s manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

The new RFICs 5G chipset

Samsung Electronics today announced that it has successfully completed the development of its cutting-edge mmWave Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs) and Digital/Analog Front End (DAFE) ASICs, supporting 28GHz and 39GHz bands.

Samsung’s new RFICs and DAFE ASICs, the core components in the 5G chipset, enable about 25 percent reduction in size, weight and power consumption for 5G base stations when compared to the previous iterations. 5G base stations using these new chipsets are more efficient in operation and roll-out.

“Our breakthroughs in 5G R&D have been the key driving forces behind the successful 5G commercial services across the U.S. and Korea in 2018, with over 36,000 5G base station shipments,” said Paul Kyungwhoon Cheun, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “At the forefront of ushering in the wave of 4th Industrial Revolution, Samsung will continue to accelerate 5G commercialization ultimately impacting the overall industries and everyday lives by offering ultra-low latency, ultra-high speed, and massive connectivity.”

To achieve ultra-fast data speeds, 5G base stations use almost one thousand antenna element and several RFICs to utilize the mmWave spectrum. The adoption of RFICs plays a crucial role in supporting the reduction in the size and power consumption of base stations. Samsung’s new RFICs using cutting-edge 28nm CMOS semiconductor technology operate on bandwidths that have been expanded to a maximum 1.4GHz, compared to 800MHz for previous RFICs. The size of RFIC is reduced by 36 percent and the overall performance is enhanced by decreasing the noise level and improving the linearity characteristics of the RF power amplifier.

Samsung has developed RFIC solutions for 28GHz and 39GHz and plans to commercialize additional RFICs for 24GHz and 47GHz this year, allowing further expansions into markets that will utilize these higher frequency bands.

Samsung has also developed its own DAFE as an ASIC, low in power consumption and small in size. The DAFE is essential for digital wireless telecommunications as it provides analog-to-digital conversions and vice versa. The 5G DAFE manages large bandwidths of many that are hundreds of MHz and developing an ASIC allows for the reduction in size and power consumption of 5G base stations. Without investing in ASICs, the DAFE on its own would be too big and power insufficient to meet the product needs of carriers.

“Samsung is building on its 5G leadership with its innovative solutions including low-power RFICs and DAFE ASICs to pioneer a new era of digital transformation,” said Jaeho Jeon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “We’re pleased to announce our completion of development on these new chipsets, which will play vital roles in pushing the advancement of technologies to the next level.”

DAFE ASICs chipset