MediaTek, a frontrunner in semiconductor innovation, has announced a significant expansion in its lineup of modems and chipsets to embrace the evolving landscape of 5G RedCap technology.
MediaTek said its M60 modem IP and the MediaTek T300 chipset series are aimed at facilitating the transition to 5G-NR (New Radio) for various applications prioritizing enduring battery life and efficiency. These applications span wearables, lightweight AR devices, IoT modules, and devices integrated with edge AI capabilities.
RedCap, an abbreviation for “reduced capability,” emerges as a groundbreaking initiative to extend the advantages of 5G to consumer, enterprise, and industrial devices. Embracing the evolution of 5G networks towards Standalone (SA) architecture, RedCap pledges to offer reliability for devices with lower bandwidth requisites. It promises to deliver many 5G benefits without incurring the typical costs and complexities associated with conventional 5G solutions.
JC Hsu, Corporate Senior Vice President at MediaTek, emphasized, “The transition to 5G RedCap aims to supersede outdated 4G/LTE solutions, providing substantially enhanced power efficiency and more dependable user experiences compared to leading-edge 5G eMMB modem solutions and legacy 4G LTE Cat 4 and Cat 6 devices.”
The MediaTek T300 series, as the world’s premier 6nm Radio Frequency System-On-Chip (RFSOC) single-die solution for RedCap, marks a significant leap forward in the RedCap sphere. This RFSOC enables brands to capitalize on the burgeoning RedCap market and conceive innovative designs for enterprise, industrial, consumer, AR, and data-card applications.
Leveraging the TSMC 6nm process, the MediaTek T300 series integrates a single-core Arm Cortex-A35 in a significantly more compact PCB area while supporting data rates of up to 227 Mbps downlink and 122 Mbps uplink.
Both the T300 series and the M60 5G modem IP comply with the 3GPP R17 standard, amalgamating MediaTek’s industry-leading power efficiency with coverage enhancements and ultra-low latency. The M60, powered by MediaTek’s UltraSave 4.0 technology, minimizes unnecessary paging receptions, offering up to a 70 percent reduction in power consumption compared to similar 5G eMBB solutions and up to 75 percent power savings compared to 4G LTE solutions.
MediaTek’s RedCap solutions herald a new era of efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness for 5G-enabled devices spanning consumer, enterprise, and industrial sectors. The MediaTek T300 series devices are set to commence sampling in the first half of 2024, with commercial samples expected in the latter half of the same year, promising a paradigm shift in connectivity standards and expectations.
