Huawei launches 5G multi-mode chipset and 5G CPE Pro Smartphone

Huawei officially launched its 5G multi-mode chipset Balong 5000 — along with the first commercial 5G device powered by it, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro. The Chinese tech giant claims that together, these two new products provide the world’s fastest wireless connections for one’s smartphone, home, at the office and on-the-go.  We don’t doubt that.

Balong 5000 officially unlocks the 5G era, according to Huawei. This chipset supports a broad range of 5G products in addition to smartphones, including home broadband devices, vehicle-mounted devices and 5G modules.

HUAWEI launches 5G multi-mode chipset and 5G CPE Pro

Photo courtesy of Huawei.  Huawei’s 5G CPE Pro achieves a high speed of 3.2 Gbps in live network tests. 

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“The Balong 5000 will open up a whole new world to consumers,” said CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group Richard Yu. “It will enable everything to sense, and will provide the high-speed connections needed for pervasive intelligence. Powered by the Balong 5000, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro enables consumers to access networks more freely and enjoy an incredibly fast connected experience. Huawei has an integrated set of capabilities across chips, devices, cloud services and networks. Building on these strengths, as the leader of the 5G era, we will bring an inspired, intelligent experience to global consumers in every aspect of their lives.”

Balong 5000 supports 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G on a single chip. It reduces latency and power consumption when exchanging data between different modes, and will significantly enhance user experience in the early stages of commercial 5G deployment.

“Balong 5000 is the first chipset to perform to industry benchmarks for peak 5G download speeds. At sub-6 GHz (low-frequency bands, the main spectrum used for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 4.6 Gbps. On mmWave spectrum (high-frequency bands used as extended spectrum for 5G), Balong 5000 can achieve download speeds up to 6.5 Gbps — 10 times faster than top 4G LTE speeds on the market today,” Huawei said.

On a 5G network, a 1-GB HD video clip can be downloaded within three seconds, and 8K video can be streamed smoothly without lag. This sets a new benchmark for home CPEs. In addition to homes, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro can also be used by small and medium-sized enterprises for super-fast broadband access.

Adopting new Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax) technology, the Huawei 5G CPE Pro delivers speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps. It is the first 5G CPE that supports HUAWEI HiLink protocols, bringing smart homes into the 5G era.

As a 5G pioneer, Huawei began research and development in 5G as early as 2009, and is currently the industry’s only vendor that can provide end-to-end 5G systems. Huawei has more than 5700 engineers dedicated to 5G R&D, including over 500 5G experts. In total, Huawei has established 11 joint innovation centers for 5G solutions worldwide

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The NY Times reported that in 2018, Huawei edged out Apple as the second-biggest provider of cellphones around the world. Richard Yu, who heads the company’s consumer business, said in Beijing several days ago that “even without the U.S. market we will be No. 1 in the world,” by the end of this year or sometime in 2020.

Last year, AT&T and Verizon stopped selling Huawei phones in their stores after Huawei began equipping the devices with its own sets of computer chips — rather than relying on American or European manufacturers. The National Security Agency quietly raised alarms that with Huawei supplying its own parts, the Chinese company would control every major element of its networks. The N.S.A. feared it would no longer be able to rely on American and European providers to warn of any evidence of malware, spying or other covert action.

For months, the White House has been drafting an executive order, expected in the coming weeks, that would effectively ban United States companies from using Chinese-origin equipment in critical telecommunications networks. That goes far beyond the existing rules, which ban such equipment only from government networks.  “China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law requires Chinese companies to support, provide assistance and cooperate in China’s national intelligence work, wherever they operate.”

The White House’s focus on Huawei coincides with the Trump administration’s broader crackdown on China, which has involved sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods, investment restrictions and the indictments of several Chinese nationals accused of hacking and cyberespionage. President Trump has accused China of “ripping off our country” and plotting to grow stronger at America’s expense.

References: 

https://consumer.huawei.com/en/press/news/2019/huawei-launches-5g-multi-mode-chipset-and-5g-cpe-pro/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/us/politics/meng-wanzhou-huawei-iran.html

 

3 thoughts on “Huawei launches 5G multi-mode chipset and 5G CPE Pro Smartphone

  1. Qualcomm (US) and Intel (US) are also the Important Players in the 5G Chipset Market

    Qualcomm (US)-

    Qualcomm (US) is an important player in the 5G chipset market. It has strong expertise in 3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi, which has helped the company develop chipsets for 5G. Qualcomm has been a leader in the mobile processor market and is likely to dominate the 5G market as well in the future. Qualcomm has also collaborated with industry leaders to drive and implement 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standardizations along with field trials. In the past 2 years, Qualcomm has significantly demonstrated its strong inorganic growth strategy. In February 2018, Qualcomm announced that its Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem has been selected for use in live, over-the-air mobile 5G NR trials with multiple global wireless network operators in both the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum bands. AT&T, British Telecom, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KDDI, KT Corporation, LG Uplus, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Singtel, SK Telecom, Sprint, Telstra, TIM, Verizon, and Vodafone Group will conduct the trials, which will be based on the 3GPP Release 15 5G NR standard.

    Intel (US)

    Intel (US) is among the key players involved in the development of 5G chipsets. The company offers 5G chipset modems and embedded chipset-based small cells to support the initial network trial. The company has dominated the market for microprocessors for several years and now intends to develop itself in the cellular chip market. The latest release of XMM 8000 series of modems, along with partnership with network operators and cellular device OEMs, is expected to improve its position in the 5G chipset market in the coming years.

    According to the MarketsandMarkets the 5G chipset market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 49.2% between 2020 and 2026, from USD 2.03 Billion in 2020 to USD 22.41 Billion by 2026. Growing demand for high-speed internet and broad network coverage with reduced latency and power consumption is supplementing the growth of the 5G chipset market.

    For more Info-

    1. The Huawei article was not a survey of 5G chip companies. If it were I would’ve also written about Samsung’s 5G silicon for its base stations and different chip sets for its smartphones/tablets. Also Mediatek in Taiwan is making 5G chip sets and contributing to 3GPP release 16 which will be that organizations IMT 2020 RIT submission to ITU-R WP5D.

  2. A deeper tech concern is at the core of the U.S.-Huawei spat, By John Pomfret
    February 4, 2019 Washington Post:

    Over the past few months, the U.S. government has launched an assault against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei for three publicly acknowledged reasons: Huawei, as the Justice Department alleges, was involved in sanctions-busting with Iran. The company also allegedly stole U.S. technology and even awarded its employees bonuses to do so. And third, because Huawei is a Chinese company and Chinese law mandates that it follow the orders of its security services, anything Huawei installs in equipment used by a U.S. ally could pose a security risk to the United States.

    But, in the three-dimensional chess game that is U.S.-China relations, underlying this battle is another conflict with China over technology and U.S. concerns that it is losing the fight. This battle centers on the rollout of 5G telecommunications technology that is expected to reshape not only modern economies but modern warfare, too. And so far, China appears to be ahead — very far ahead.

    This matters because 5G will produce enormously faster broadband speeds — upward of 10 gigabits per second — with no lags. This web of connectivity could facilitate the introduction of highways with driverless cars, advanced automation on factory floors and a brave new world where machines effortlessly exchange oceans of data. It could also transform warfare with integrated military operations that would make today’s joint operations look like children playing in a kindergarten sandbox. Imagine squadrons of pilotless fighters, drones and smart missiles along with a coordinated cyberattack.

    Tragically for the United States, China’s efforts to roll out its 5G network have lacked any of the catalyzing drama associated with the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, the world’s first satellite, in 1957. According to a report last year by Deloitte, since 2015, China has outspent the United States by an estimated $24 billion in wireless communications infrastructure.

    Density is key to 5G. A successful network needs more cell towers than 4G. That means more small cells on telephone polls and street lamps. According to the Deloitte report, China Tower, the world’s leader in building these relay stations, has invested $17.7 billion since 2015, beating all its U.S. rivals combined.

    Nationwide, China today has 1.9 million wireless sites compared to 200,000 in the United States. For every 10 square miles, China has 5.3 sites, while the United States has a paltry 0.4. Chinese telecommunications firms are on track to begin standalone 5G service in 2020, five years ahead of their U.S. counterparts. Faced with this disparity, the Deloitte reports warns that “China and other countries may be creating a 5G tsunami, making it near impossible to catch up.”

    To get ahead, China has leveraged its systemic differences with the United States. A few decades ago, American analysts scoffed at China’s continued use of communist-era “Five-Year Plans” to manage its economy. Not anymore. According to Deloitte, China’s most recent plan earmarks $400 billion for 5G-related investments, dwarfing anything similar in the United States. China’s government has forced its three big telecommunications providers to work together to build 5G, something the U.S. government could not do. China also has strong-armed leading Chinese Internet platform companies — such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com and ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing — into taking a nearly $12 billion stake in one telecom provider, China Unicom, to subsidize its 5G rollout.

    China has harnessed the full weight of its national government to ensure that Chinese firms are at the forefront of standards-setting negotiations worldwide. In a report released in November, the Eurasia Group consulting firm estimated that, while China was on the sidelines of the standards setting for 3G and 4G, Chinese firms could end up holding upward of 40 percent of the standard essential patents for standalone 5G.

    China is not the only country ahead of the United States in 5G. Japan has far more sites per 10 square miles — 15.2 — than both China or the United States. Germany has made similar progress to China’s — with nearly 10 times more sites per 10 square miles than in the United States. But, despite some of President Trump’s claims, neither Japan nor Germany are considered threats to the United States.

    At root, the issue here is trust. U.S. moves against Huawei are driven by a fear that the Chinese Communist Party not only rejects the values of a Western liberal economic system but also is at war with those values across the globe. What’s more, U.S. officials worry that the Communist Party has conscripted Huawei in this battle, both as a weapon to dominate cutting-edge technology and as an agent that can conduct espionage on the West.

    Despite Huawei’s protestations that American worries about espionage are unwarranted, its executives routinely cross the line between state and private actors. Take Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, who was detained in Vancouver in December and has now been charged with bank fraud in connection with Huawei’s alleged sanctions busting in Iran. She reportedly had eight passports, one a Chinese government official passport. Wang Weijing, the Chinese employee arrested in January in Poland on espionage charges, worked for the Chinese consulate in Gdansk before joining Huawei, again blurring the distinction between Chinese officialdom and private sector.

    Seen in this light, the American actions against Huawei mix both an independent law enforcement action and a high-stakes worldwide contest with a government whose core ideology is increasingly inimical to U.S. values.

    So, what’s next?

    Just a few years ago, pundits heralded the victory of globalization and the onset of a borderless world. Now, the Huawei case raises the prospect of a newly bifurcated globe, split into technological spheres of influence. The United States and its closest allies — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Japan — are coalescing into one. China leads another. In the developed world, Germany and France are sitting on the fence. In the global south, Malaysia and Indonesia are up for grabs. And Huawei is at the center.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/04/deeper-tech-concern-is-core-us-huawei-spat/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8a0f7456b478

    Read more:

    The Post’s View: The Huawei indictment tells a story of deceit and corporate espionage

    Josh Rogin: The U.S. government shouldn’t partner with Huawei

    Michelle Caruso-Cabrera: The Huawei case shows how China’s ambitions are on a collision course with the U.S.

    Michael Morell and David Kris: It’s not a trade war with China. It’s a tech war.

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