Introduction
The latest statistic from GSA’s 5G Infographic reveals that as of August 2023, there were 265 commercial 5G launches globally, and 543 operators are investing in 5G network rollout. Driven by technological innovations, it is expected to add new 5G network deployments in more than 30 countries in 2023, most of which will be 5G standalone networks. While the operators are propelling the implementation of 5G infrastructure, the adoption of 5G applications will be presented in a more mature business model for consumers, and enterprises to engage in the beneficiary bandwidth and millisecond latency.
Another statistic from GSA has identified 535 operators from 186 countries and territories are providing FWA service using LTE or 5G worldwide. These powerful figures also mark the stance of FWA as the "Killer App" in 5G's commercialization attributed to the rapid deployment in recent years.
Why RedCap and How to Position the Role in the FWA Market?
The evolution of 5G technology is an ongoing process, from 3GPP Release 15 to 17, every evolution empowers 5G with multiple advancements. RedCap was introduced under the category of 5G NR in 3GPP Release 17 but leveraged fewer 5G NR capabilities for the balance of 5G functions and costs. This new tier of 5G will technically contribute to the acceleration of the 5G use cases adoption rate by providing optimized hardware design, extended battery life, lower power consumption and better spectrum utilization.
Source: Ericsson FWA Handbook 2023 Edition
FWA (Fixed Wireless Access), is addressed to close the digital divide and offer fiber-like wireless connectivity services eliminating the barriers led by geography locations. 4G FWA has benefited from the comprehensive 4G infrastructure built in the past ten years, the shipment accounted for more than 70% of the total FWA device shipments. Driven by the implementation of 5G network deployments, 5G share is predicted to exceed 4G in the next few years, and the 4G existing market will seek for a 5G solution for smooth transition. Therefore, 5G RedCap is considered to be the ideal solution to take over the 4G FWA market with the multiple enhancements introduced at the beginning.
Fibocom’s 5G RedCap Module Solution to Ensure the Predictable Growth of 5G FWA
As the industry-leading provider of wireless modules and solutions, Fibocom launched the 5G RedCap module solution for the global FWA market earlier this year. Integrated with Snapdragon X35 5G Modem-RF, which is the world's 1st 5G NR-Light Modem-RF, Fibocom FG131 is a high-performance RedCap module with a maximum peak rate of up to 226Mbps on the downlink and 121Mbps on the uplink in 5G SA. Furthermore, it is also backward compatible with LTE networks, delivering up to 195Mbps downlink and 105Mbps uplink speed. Adopting an LGA form factor measured at 39.5*37mm, the package ensures the 100% compatibility of Fibocom LTE Cat 6 module series FG101 and FG621, and is also pin-compatible with Fibocom LTE Cat 4 module series, greatly reducing the barriers for customers to replace the 4G FWA devices with the latest 5G technology. Notably, FG131 incorporated numerous hardware innovations by employing a highly-integrated PCB layout, enabling customers' devices to support more frequency bands at a global scale, encompassing regions such as North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, Japan, China, etc.
The simplified design of the 5G RedCap module will ultimately lead to cost optimization. In hardware utilization, FG131 realize the balance of cost performance and end device scalability. Catering to the demand for larger bandwidth and higher throughput in the FWA scenarios, FG131 is equipped with a 1.25Gbps SGMII portal for users to develop the wired connection. Additionally, it expands wireless capability to Wi-Fi 5/Wi-Fi 6 by docking to QCA6174/WCN6856 Wi-Fi chipset via a PCIe 2.0 port. In terms of software comparability, FG131 supports OpenWRT, allowing customer who adapts Open CPU to develop the FWA end devices flexibly. Most importantly, Fibocom FG131 RedCap module shows no compromise on the 5G capability such as network slicing, 5G LAN, which is essential for specific use cases like private networks, industrial automation, mission-critical applications, etc.
In Conclusion
Among the plenty of capabilities outlined in the above chapter, 5G RedCap will shine as the spotlight in the FWA industry as it eases the way for customers to build a more competitive terminal based on the up-to-date 5G technologies. Fibocom has the confidence to provide the best-in-class RedCap module solutions to help our customer's FWA devices such as CPE, ODU, mobile hot spot, USB dongle adapt to the transition seamlessly.
