Qualcomm Offers Commercial Advanced Chipset for Automotive

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., has added the Qualcomm Gobi 9×30 platform with extended lifecycle support to Snapdragon Automotive Solutions, enabling advanced telematics and infotainment features for next-generation systems.

The announcement was made at Mobile World Congress, being held this week in Barcelona, Spain.

Based on Qualcomm Technologies’ fourth-generation LTE platform, the Gobi 9×30 supports LTE Advanced Category 6 with up to 300 Mbps downlink data rates, enabling broadband vehicle connectivity for enhanced navigation, Wi-Fi hotspot, infotainment content and telematics services.

Gobi 9×30 builds upon Qualcomm Technologies’ LTE modem technology for automotive, the Gobi 9×15, and promises to enable a superior next-generation GNSS engine and fast 3G and 4G LTE connections worldwide, while supporting broad multi-region coverage in a single SKU with the Qualcomm RF360 front-end solution. The Gobi 9×30 is based on the 20-nm technology node with support for global carrier aggregation deployments up to 40 MHz in both LTE FDD and TDD modes. The Gobi 9×30 features broad multi-mode capability with support for all other major cellular technologies, including LTE TDD networks in China.

In addition to 3G/LTE connectivity, the new platform is pre-integrated with QCA6574, a dual-stream 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1 chipset designed to simultaneously support in-car Wi-Fi hotspot functions and Bluetooth profiles. The QCA6574 also supports DSRC (dedicated short-range communications), a technology required to comply with future regulation recently announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to increase safety through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. The Gobi 9×30 and QCA6574 will also be pre-integrated with Qualcomm Technologies’ recently-announced automotive-grade Snapdragon 602A processor.

“The need for high-speed connectivity in the automobile is driving ever-increasing data rates as well as greater integration of features and technologies,” said Kanwalinder Singh, senior vice president of business development for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Adding Gobi 9×30 to our technology leading LTE lineup offers to our module, Tier-1 and automaker customers the flexibility of a global SKU with next-generation LTE features including data rates up to 300 Mbps and carrier aggregation. The Gobi 9×30 sets a new bar for features and integration: 20 nm technology node; support for both LTE FDD and TDD modes; built-in next-generation GNSS engine; pre-integration with Snapdragon 602A; and pre-integration with QCA 6574, supporting 802.11ac, BT 4.1, and DSRC.”

Gobi 9×30 is currently sampling to customers.