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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:21AM   Printer-friendly

Intel and MediaTek Announce Partnership To Bring 5G Modems to PCs

Today Intel has announced they've entered a partnership with MediaTek with the goal of "development, certification and support of 5G modem solutions" for next generation PC platforms. The announcement comes 5 months after the announcement that Intel is selling off its own modem and[sic] division to Apple for $1B.

The partnership with MediaTek clears up Intel's plans for the future of connectivity on PC platforms, and how the company is planning to go forward with supporting cellular connectivity in the next generations of devices.

"5G is poised to unleash a new level of computing and connectivity that will transform the way we interact with the world. This partnership with MediaTek brings together industry leaders with deep engineering, system integration and connectivity expertise to deliver 5G experiences on the next generation of the world's best PCs."

-- Gregory Bryant, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing

[...] The first products of the partnership are said to be targeting availability in early 2021.

2021: Did you buy the 5G spy motherboard or just a chip with a management engine?

Previously: Apple in Billion-Dollar Bid to Gobble Intel's 5G Modem Blueprints and Staff

Related: Big Changes Planned by Microsoft - Windows 10 on ARM, Laptops to Behave More Like Phones
Intel Integrates LTE Modem Into Custom Multi-Chip Module for New HP Laptop
Intel and Qualcomm Announce 5G Modem Modules for M.2 Slots


Original Submission

Related Stories

Big Changes Planned by Microsoft - Windows 10 on ARM, Laptops to Behave More Like Phones 29 comments

Cnet reports: Windows laptops in 2017 could act and feel more like a phone

Microsoft wants its computers to be more nimble.

To that goal, the Qualcomm announced at Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Community event on Wednesday that its Windows 10 devices will support the Snapdragon 835 processor, which you'll see in many top-tier phones next year. The chip will be able to provide Gigabit LTE connectivity, nearly double your battery life and pack it all into even smaller devices.

From the following story we get:

At its WinHEC hardware conference in Shenzhen today, Microsoft announced a range of hardware-driven initiatives to modernize the PC and address two big goals. The first is expanded support for mixed reality; the second is to produce a range of even more power-efficient, mobile, always-connected PCs powered by ARM processors.

[...] The second aspect of the push to modernize the PC is the desire for ever longer battery life, greater portability, and connectivity. To that end, Microsoft is bringing back something that it had before: Windows for ARM processors. Qualcomm-powered Windows 10 PCs will hit the market in 2017.

The truth is that Windows for ARM has never really gone away. The first Windows on ARM iteration was dubbed Windows RT, and it launched on the first Surface tablet. Although this system provided almost every part of Windows, just recompiled for 32-bit ARM processors, Microsoft locked it down using a certificate-based security scheme. Built-in desktop apps, such as Explorer and Calculator ran fine, as did the pre-installed version of Office, but third-party desktop apps built using the Win32 API were prohibited. The only third-party apps that were permitted were those built using the new WinRT API and distributed through the Windows Store.

With few such apps available, Windows RT and Surface didn't see much market success. Nonetheless, Microsoft continued to develop Windows on ARM, as it's an essential part of both the Windows 10 Internet of Things Core variant of the operating system and the Windows 10 Mobile version.

PCWorld offer the following:

Traditional Windows apps can only run on X86 chips, not ARM—thus, the failed Windows RT. To get around this, Qualcomm (and only Qualcomm) is working with Microsoft to emulate X86 instructions, the companies said. [...] Sources at Microsoft and Qualcomm say the partnership is designed around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, a chip that's in production now and is due to ship in the first half of 2017, according to Qualcomm. The first Windows-on-ARM PCs are expected by the second half of next year.


Original Submission

Intel Integrates LTE Modem Into Custom Multi-Chip Module for New HP Laptop 13 comments

Intel's Customized SoC for HP: Amber Lake-Y with On-Package LTE Modem

Announced earlier this week, HP's Spectre Folio convertible notebook already looks remarkable due to its leather exterior. As it appears, the system is as impressive inside as it is on the outside, as it incorporates a custom Intel's Amber Lake-Y multi-chip-module that features an LTE modem.

According to a report from PC World, the internal design of the Spectre Folio PC convertible notebook was co-developed by HP and Intel engineers under Intel's Innovation Excellence Program, which is aimed at enabling PC makers to bring state-of-the-art designs to the market. The product uses a tiny, jointly-designed motherboard that measures only 12,000 mm2 and is based around a unique multi-chip module that carries Intel's Amber Lake-Y SoC, a PCH (platform controller hub), and Intel's Intel XMM 7560 LTE Advanced Pro Cat16/Cat 13 modem.

[...] Intel is not new to selling complete platforms comprised of a CPU, a chipset, and a communication module. Back in 2000s the company made a fortune selling its Centrino-branded sets containing the aforementioned elements. By selling multiple chips at once, Intel naturally increases its revenue, whereas system vendors ensure compatibility. Therefore, platform-level integration is a win-win for all parties. With that said, this is the first time we've seen Intel put a CPU, a PCH, and a cellular modem onto one multi-chip-module in this fashion. So this may be the start of a trend for the company.

Related: Apple Could Switch From Qualcomm to Intel and MediaTek for Modems
Intel Announces Development of 5G Modems (Due in 2019)
AMD Creates Quad-Core Zen SoC for Chinese Console Maker
ARM Aims to Match Intel 15-Watt Laptop CPU Performance


Original Submission

Intel and Qualcomm Announce 5G Modem Modules for M.2 Slots 5 comments

Pictured: Intel and Qualcomm to offer 5G Modules for M.2 Slots

Last week we reported on that Fibocom, an Intel partner, had announced a new M.2 module featuring the Intel XMM8160 5G modem to be used in CPEs as well as upcoming PCs and laptops. During the Mobile World Congress show, we actually saw this M.2 module on the Fibocom booth, but to our surprise, we also saw a similar M.2 module for Qualcomm's X55 modem over at the Qualcomm booth.

These modules fit the widest possible M.2 standard, coming in at 30mm wide, which is 8mm wider than the storage based drives we normally see in this form factor. When looking at the Fibocom module first, it was unclear why the module had to be this wide – surely the modem as not 30mm wide, I thought. At the Fibocom booth, we also got hold of a specification list, confirming that the module was to support both SA and NSA networks, and also cover both 5G in the mmWave bands as well as sub 6 GHz.

[...] The unit will support 2x2 MIMO, 4x2 MIMO, and 4x4 MIMO modes for download, but only 2x2 MIMO for upload. The 4x4 MIMO download mode will only be applicable on bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 25, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 66, n77, n78, n79. The unit also integrates support for GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, and Galileo. Drivers will be available for both Windows 10 and Linux.

Coming soon... to every new laptop.


Original Submission

Apple in Billion-Dollar Bid to Gobble Intel's 5G Modem Blueprints and Staff 7 comments

Submitted via IRC for Bytram

Checkmate, Qualcomm: Apple in billion-dollar bid to gobble Intel's 5G modem blueprints, staff – new claim

Apple and Intel are apparently in "advanced talks" over buying up the remains of Chipzilla's defunct 5G modem business.

Sources close to the deal told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that Cook & Co were offering the x86 processor goliath a billion dollars for the intellectual property and staff behind its cellular modem business. The unit has been on hiatus since its primary customer Apple reached a smartphone modem supply deal with Qualcomm in April.

Intel has plowed mega-millions into designing mobile modems ever since it wolfed down Infineon in 2010 for $1.4bn. The chip factory eventually won a contract to supply 4G/LTE modems for some Apple smartphones. At the time, Apple was fed up with its primary modem supplier Qualcomm, which it later sued, along with its manufacturing partners, for $30bn.

After plenty of money went up in smoke on lawyers' fees, Apple and Qualcomm agreed to settle their differences, with the Cupertino idiot-tax operation signing another modem supply contract with Qualy. The same day that deal was announced, Intel, having lost its only serious cellular modem customer, announced it was winding up its 5G unit.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 5, Disagree) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:33AM (4 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:33AM (#924853) Journal

    So many of us live in areas where plain old wireless connections don't work. I borrowed an AT&T wireless thingy from a coworker, a few years ago. (She wanted to sell it, for various reasons.) Hooked it up, and pphhhhhttt - nothing. It would make a connection, and several seconds later lose the connection. The only way to make it work would have been to purchase and install a repeater, and stick the antenna up above the trees.

    So, they want to move PC's from existing infrastructure that works poorly, to 5G, which demonstrably DOES NOT work?

    Thanks for nothing, Intel, MediaTek, and telcos. Thanks for absolutely nothing.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @10:45AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @10:45AM (#924860)

      It's for our overlords, both China's and America's.

      Do you consider yourself a patriot? Because asymmetric warfare is going to be needed in the near future when 5g is rolled out as part of the surveillance state to once and for all enslave us plebs in technologically advanced countries.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:42PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:42PM (#924906)

        We all know what they're doing, and there's nothing we do about it.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @08:16PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @08:16PM (#925054)

          people are too comfortable right now. wait until the robots start taking all the jerbs! then maybe people will kill these CEOs like they deserve.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @10:03PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @10:03PM (#925118)

      Having worked with Intel in the past in a space next to this inside of a telco. I can tell you both sides will fuck it up. It is not their core competency.

      The whole disaster will be killed off within 2-3 years (the telco patients for any real project).

      Then on top of that they will charge a premium for the data. Killing it in the womb. Sure I would love to pay double just to have a crippled capped data stream!

      Then on top of that 5g range and penetration is worse than 4g! Which took some work! At least its 'faster'.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by jmichaelhudsondotnet on Tuesday November 26 2019, @04:41PM

    by jmichaelhudsondotnet (8122) on Tuesday November 26 2019, @04:41PM (#924978) Journal

    One step closer to your neocortex

    These devices will not be in any way securable.

    To me it really looks like that they this 40% of the population convinced all the concerns about privacy are not real, and if they rush out as many devices of this gen tech to them, society will be so saturated with listening devices, the privacy choices of the others won't matter.

    Before you decide who to trust though, I would consider this exercise:

    https://archive.is/rvZTo [archive.is]

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