Qualcomm announces addition of Category 9 Carrier Aggregation to Snapdragon 810 processor

Qualcomm has announced today that their Snapdragon 810 processor will be adding support for LTE category 9 Carrier Aggregation connectivity. The Category 9 capabilities have been validated in various tests with commercial network and test equipment companies, and the 810 processor has shown download speeds of up to 450 Mbps across three LTE carriers — making it the first Snapdragon processor to support Category 9 Carrier Aggregation.

The LTE-advanced modem is also backwards compatible with current technologies including GSM/EDGE, CDMA1x/EVDO, TD-SCDMA and WCDMA/HSPA+. Qualcomm says they expect the new hardware to be available to customers in early 2015.

Press Release

Qualcomm Expands LTE Capabilities in Snapdragon 810 to add Category 9 Carrier Aggregation

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor increases support of download speeds from peak data rates of 300 Mbps to the latest LTE standard with peak data rates of 450 Mbps, supporting greater coverage at faster speeds

SAN DIEGO – December 11, 2014 – Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), announced today that the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 processor will add support for LTE Category 9 Carrier Aggregation connectivity. The Snapdragon 810 processor with integrated next generation LTE-Advanced modem has demonstrated download speeds of up to 450 Mbps over three 20MHz LTE carriers, becoming the first Snapdragon processor to support Category 9 Carrier Aggregation. The newly announced Category 9 support makes the Snapdragon 810 processor the first Qualcomm Technologies premium-tier processor to feature a fully-integrated 64-bit multicore CPU and LTE-Advanced multimode modem to support up to 3x20MHz Category 9 Carrier Aggregation, as well as aggregation across FDD and TDD carriers. This brings the latest advances in performance and connectivity to mobile computing for superior user experiences supported by faster downloads, quicker application performance and improved power efficiency.  The Snapdragon 810 processor with Category 9 support is anticipated to be available to our customers in early 2015.

Category 9 capabilities have been validated with Snapdragon 810 processor-based tests conducted with multiple commercial network and test equipment companies, as well as an over-the-air demonstration in a commercial network environment.  Utilizing devices powered by the Snapdragon 810 processor, each test successfully demonstrated the support of 3x Carrier Aggregation with three LTE component carriers, each with a bandwidth of up to 20 MHz, allowing for Category 9 peak data rates of up to 450 Mbps in the downlink.  Qualcomm Technologies' LTE-Advanced modem is backwards compatible with all major cellular standards and technologies supported by 4G LTE including GSM/EDGE, CDMA1x/EVDO, TD-SCDMA and WCDMA/HSPA+.

"Qualcomm Technologies continues to be a leader in the mobile industry with commercialization of the world's leading modem technology, delivering fast and reliable cellular data connectivity solutions. This provides speedy application performance and feature richness across greater coverage areas enabled by LTE Category 9 connectivity," said Alex Katouzian, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.  "With powerful processors like the Snapdragon 810, we look forward to continuing to drive LTE innovation in the high tier to ensure exceptional user experiences as mobile broadband demand grows."

Source: Qualcomm

Adam Zeis
Editorial Director - High Yield

Getting his start writing about BlackBerry in 2008, Adam is the Editorial Director of High-Yield content at Future. Leading an outstanding team, he oversees many of the articles the publisher produces about subscriptions and services – VPN, TV streaming, and antivirus software. From buying guides and how to watch content, to deal news and in-depth reviews. Adam's work can be seen on numerous Future brands including TechRadar, Tom's Guide, T3, TTR, Android Central, iMore, and Real Homes. 

11 Comments
  • Qualcomm is the stock to get right now!
  • This is why I kept my Nexus 5 and skipped the Nexus 6. I'm waiting for this processor.
  • The speeds are really impressive but are they practical in the real world? I'm thinking it's going to be quite a while before the carriers speeds get anywhere near rendering the current SoCs obsolete. Granted, there will obviously be other improvements besides this. Posted via the Android Central App
  • Not really practical. You'll get these speeds for a few minutes if not less. Posted via the Android Central App
  • That is the dumbest thing I have *ever* heard. And I've heard a lot of dumb stuff.
  • We don't even have 2k or 4k streaming available on our mobile devices yet. Carriers aren't going to let unlimited data users have these kinds of speeds. Verizon & AT&T, maybe. They would love for customers to use their data cap in 5 second. Posted via "the Contest-Won" Sprint Galaxy Note 4
  • This is just marketing hype, that's all. Posted via the Android Central App
  • It's a great step in building towards the future; just look back over the past 5 years... how much of what we have today was a pipe dream before? Now let your imagination run wild for the next few years :)
  • Yeah... I too didn't jump right on the nexus 6 this year in hopes that good phone with this processor comes out... also the nexus 6 might be a little big for me... I still want pure android though after being on nexus devices for so long... here's to hoping there's a google experience device with this cpu soon!
  • My wife has an S3 and her contract is up one year from now. She will be pleasantly surprised with the massive jump from the Snapdragon S4 to the 810. Posted via OnePlus One
  • Qualcomm.. Do I look like I have "Sucka" written over my old bald head?
    I'll keep my Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and it's Snapdragon 805.. why would I invest in this starter 64-bit SoC when the *Real Deal* Snapdragon 820 with *Cat-12* Aggregation is just 9 months away... And will be the SoC to power my new Samsung Galaxy Note 5 next September.. Nice Try Though!