In 2019, Intel will launch 5G radio modems that will transfer data wirelessly at multiple gigabits per second. Intel, Qualcomm and others tout the promise of the 5G economy which, predicated on the existence of 5G chips, will enable self-driving cars, replace home-based cable modems and generate trillions of dollars in revenue over time. Intel will release its XMM 8000 series. The company says it has made a 5G phone call based on early prototypes and that its XMM 7560 chip already reaches gigabit speeds.

VentureBeat reports that Intel vice president/general manager Chenwei Yan stated that the company “is helping build the 5G superhighway from network to cloud to client.” “Intel is introducing a portfolio of products to accelerate that 5G future,” he added. The 5G Intel chips will “become the foundation for the network, cloud, and clients together in an end-to-end 5G solution.”

Intel vice president/general manager of the 5G strategy group Alex Quach pointed out that, “5G will unlock things that 4G LTE networks cannot do.” “5G lets you slice the network so service providers can provide different levels of service, where they can target the Internet of Things, phone service, or enterprise service on top of the same network infrastructure,” he said.

The Intel XMM 8000 series chips, which “operate in the sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave spectrum bands around the world,” will “enable a range of devices — from PCs and smartphones to fixed wireless consumer set-top boxes or cars — to connect to 5G networks.” The first one to be available, in 2019, will be the Intel XMM 8060 5G modem. “Intel has 280 partners in its network builders program and more than 140 reference architecture designs.”

Elsewhere VentureBeat reports that, “Qualcomm Technologies, ZTE, and China Mobile have created a data testing system for 5G networking … an end-to-end 5G NR test system that demonstrates a data connection based on the 3GPP R15 standard.” The 3GPP standard “is important as it is a global 5G radio technology, and this is the first time that a compliant data connection has been made across multiple vendors.”

The trial, which took place at China Mobile’s 5G Joint Innovation Center, utilized “ZTE’s 5G NR pre-commercial base station and Qualcomm’s 5G NR sub-6 GHz prototype chip” slated for use in a mobile device. All partners reinforced their commit to create a multi-gigabit network that will allow streaming HD video, as well as VR and AR experiences.

“The achievement of end-to-end 5G NR interoperable connection testing, compliant with the 3GPP 5G NR standard, is an important milestone of 5G to productization and pre-commercialization from standard,” said China Mobile Communications vice president Li Zhengmao.