M80 is MediaTek’s first 5G modem with mmWave support. It will be integrated into the die alongside the CPU, ISP, DSP, and other components. So, with the single-chip design, the Taiwanese giant aims to take on its archrival Qualcomm’s X60 modem.
Let’s see what it wields while entering the high-pace 5G competition.
MediaTek M80 Specs and Configuration
Much like its precursor, the M80 is an integrated 5G solution. But where it differs mainly is how there is support for both sub-6 GHz and mmWave networks.
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“As 5G rollouts accelerate, mmWave is becoming increasingly important, especially in the U.S., MediaTek’s new 5G modem integrates support for both sub-6 GHz and mmWave networks to address this opportunity and give device makers more flexibility,” says JC Hsu, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of MediaTek’s Wireless Communications Business Unit.
MediaTek M80 facilitates both SA (standalone) and NSA (non-standalone) modes (ie., dual-mode 5G). The claimed upload and download speeds are 7.67Gbps and 3.67Gbps respectively.
Further, there is support for radio technologies like —
- Dual Voice over New Radio (VoNR)
- 3GPP Release 16 standard
- Sub-6 GHz and mmWave dual connectivity and carrier aggregation
- 5G NR (FR1) with more than two carrier aggregation
- 5G mmWave (FR2) up to 8CC
- 5G carrier aggregation with Mixed Duplex (TDD + FDD)
- Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) ready (means 4G LTE and 5G NR will be able to concurrently function on the same frequency band)
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The brand has employed power efficiency features such as the proprietary Ultrasave Network Environment Detection and UltraSave OTA Content Awareness, Dynamic Bandwidth based on the detected network condition, and Connected Mode DRX (C-DRX) (for robust standby connectivity.
MediaTek M80 Availability
MediaTek tells the new modem will power everything from smartphones to PCs, mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, broadband customer premise equipment (CPE), industrial IoT applications, and more. M80 is expected to reach its clients later this year. But, the company hasn’t pointed to a defined time frame by which we will be seeing the consumer-end devices.
