Qualcomm achieves first end-to-end 5G system based on 3GPP Standard

As we move further and further into a world filled with streaming, cloud storage, and other data-reliant tasks, access to ultra-fast data speeds is becoming more and more important. Qualcomm's been one of the leading forces when it comes to building 5G-compatible hardware, and the company recently announced that it worked together with ZTE and China Mobile to achieve the first ever 5G Interoperability Data testing (IoDT) system that's fully compliant with the 3GPP R15 standard.

The demonstration of this system was done at China Mobile's 5G Join Innovation Center, and the system that was used took advantage of Qualcomm's 5G ZR sub-6 GHz UE prototype and ZTE's 5G NR pre-commercial base station. With these technologies working together, the system kicked out multi-gigabit per second peak speeds with much lower latency compared to what we currently have with 4G infrastructures.

Such fast and reliable speeds obviously mean big improvements for downloading large files, streaming 4K video content, and much more, but what's so significant about Qualcomm's latest test?

Thanks to the successful run of the 5G NR IoDT system, Qualcomm is now one step closer to pushing this tech at a much larger scale and will be able to focus on the continuous development of hardware that meets these 3GPP standards that are necessary for a 5G future.

Per Qualcomm Technologie's Vice President, Christiano Amon –

Achieving the world's first end-to-end 5G NR interoperable data connection is true testament to our 5G leadership, driving toward the timely launch of standard-compliant commercial networks. Qualcomm Technologies is committed to the continued success of China's wireless industry and we are excited to collaborate with ZTE and China Mobile to accelerate the path to 5G in China.

Qualcomm has managed to fit its once briefcase-sized 5G modem into a phone

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.