CES 2017: Intel Unveils a 5G Modem for Mobiles and Drones

Intel at CES 2017 in Las Vegas on Wednesday announced its 5G modem for mobiles, automobiles, and drones. The chipmaker claimed that its new 5G modem will be a "milestone for the industry" and added that this will enable businesses across the globe to develop and launch early 5G solutions. Intel's 5G modem announcement come few months after Qualcomm's 5G modem launch in October last year.

Intel, which is already known for making chips for PCs, servers, mobile devices, and data, is now eyeing autonomous vehicle segment with its new Intel GO platform that was also announced at its CES event.

The new Intel 5G Modem comes with baseband chip that can pair with a new 5G transceiver that enables both sub-6GHz and mmWave capabilities. "Our goal is to support both early trials and to lay a foundation enabling accelerated development of products that will support the 3GPP NR specification and help drive global adoption of the 3GPP 5G standard," wrote Aicha Evans, Corporate Vice President and General Manager for Intel's Communication and Devices Group.

Intel adds that the new 5G modem is capable of delivering 5G in both sub-6GHz bands and mmWave spectrum in regions including the United States, Europe, Korea, and Japan. The modem will be available for sampling in the second half of 2017.

Sharing Intel's vision behind 5G connectivity, Evans added, "With 5G, autonomous vehicles will be able to make decisions in milliseconds to keep drivers and vehicles safe. Drones will aid in disaster recovery efforts, providing real-time data for emergency responders."

Apart from new Intel 5G modem, the chipmaker also introduced new Intel GO autonomous car platform. The company announced several development kits that scale in performance from next-generation Intel Atom processor to Intel Xeon processors. Intel claims that this is the "industry's first 5G-ready development platform for automated driving."

The full Intel GO system comprises of both hardware and software development kits including two versions of Intel GO In-Vehicle development platforms for automated driving. Intel expects automakers to develop and test a wide range of use cases and applications ahead of the expected rollout of 5G in 2020. The company also announced partners including BMW, Delphi and Baidu who will use Intel technology in their autonomous vehicles.

It added that BMW in collaboration with Intel and Mobileye will be revealing a fleet of approximately 40 autonomous BMW cars - with Intel GO solutions inside - by the end of 2017.

"This scalable, car-to-cloud system puts the automotive industry on an accelerated path toward our driverless future. It gives carmakers and suppliers tremendous flexibility in their designs while reducing the time and cost of bringing new experiences to market," explained Doug Davis, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Automated Driving Group (ADG) at Intel Corporation.