As a Taiwanese old chip company, MediaTek's products were sought after by domestic mobile phones in the early years. However, due to the backwardness of the architecture technology, Qualcomm continued to suppress it in recent years. Together with the rise of domestic self-developed chips, MediaTek's mobile phone chips are in a relatively embarrassing position.
With the advent of the 5G era, MediaTek seems to have found an opportunity for business recovery. So at the Taipei Computer Show in the first half of this year, the world's first 5G independent baseband 'Helio M70' was launched, but this product did not attract much attention. , also failed to get Apple's mobile phone orders.
In the recent IC60 Special Exhibition of the 60th Anniversary of Integrated Circuits held by Taiwan, MediaTek first demonstrated its own 5G test prototype. The baseband used in this mobile phone is the Helio M70.
According to the previously published information, Helio M70 supports 5G NR new air interface, in line with 3GPP Release 15 independent networking specifications, download rate up to 5Gbps, is expected to achieve mass production in 2019.
Of course, for this 5G prototype, MediaTek did not give a detailed introduction to its technical specifications, but a brief introduction, so that engineers can demonstrate the feasibility of 5G new technology, and timely correct possible errors and test design circuits. Whether it is up to standard.
However, it is worth noting that the back shell of this demonstration machine has intentionally left two 'sunroof' to connect with the test platform. Since the 5G transmission speed is too fast, the current test circuit will generate a lot of heat during operation. Therefore, MediaTek uses multiple cooling fans on the prototype. However, MediaTek said that MediaTek's unique low-power design will be installed on the final 5G commercial equipment, and the fans will be removed.
At present, many manufacturers around the world have launched their own 5G communication solutions. Samsung even said that it will launch the 5G baseband version of the S10 at the beginning of next year. Can MediaTek completely turn around in the 5G era and return to its former peak? We will wait and see.
