Qualcomm Inc. is teaming up with South Korea-based Samsung to offer so-called “small cells” supporting communications in unlicensed spectrum, such as the 5 gigahertz band that is open to all. The technology would support the extra-fast data transfer technology called LTE.
It was one of several announcements Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) made in advance of the Mobile World Congress scheduled for Feb. 22-25 in Barcelona, Spain.
A Samsung product called the LTE-U eFemto cell incorporates a Qualcomm FSM9955 chipset. A small cell is a low-power device designed to take the place of a cell tower.
“As the amount of data services and smartphone devices dramatically increases, more spectrum is required to accommodate fast-growing data traffic and help ensure a great user experience,” Qualcomm and Samsung said in a joint announcement. “LTE in unlicensed spectrum includes a key family of technologies that allows aggregation of licensed and unlicensed spectrum bands, such as 5 gigahertz, to efficiently and timely increase network capacity and speed.”
Some devices communicate over Wi-Fi using the 5 gigahertz frequency.
