After Samsung and Arm confirmed last year that they’re actively working on 6G technology, two of the most important players in the smartphone market revealed they’ve decided to start focusing on 6G: Qualcomm and MediaTek.
Although they’re direct competitors in the chipset market, Qualcomm and MediaTek are now working toward a common goal, the standardization of the 6G cellular technology.
Each company develops 6G technology in collaboration with different partners, so it will be interesting to see from the outside what Qualcomm and MediaTek end up achieving in this rather new field.
Qualcomm marks its return to Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona with a very interesting announcement regarding 6G technology, and a showcase of its latest wireless innovations.
The US-based chip maker revealed that it’s working closely with Nokia Bell Labs and Rhode & Schwarz to develop and evolve its 6G vision, which currently seems to be focusing on AI.
Qualcomm expects future networks to learn and adapt over time, so using AI-native protocols that can enable the network to dynamically adjust its parameters based on real-time conditions seems to be the way to go.
Qualcomm continues to evolve its wireless technology toward 6G | Image credit: Qualcomm
According to Qualcomm, 2025 will mark the official beginning of 6G standardization, and it looks like MediaTek fully agrees with this statement.
The Taiwanese company is showcasing several key technologies that enable wireless evolution towards 6G, such as hybrid computing, a live LEO broadband NR-NTN trial, sub-band full duplex (SBFD), as well as a new M90 5G Advanced modem that we’ve already talked about earlier this week.
We’re pushing forward industry-leading connectivity and AI applications through high-quality products and global standardization, which create significant new opportunities to enrich everyday living for more people around the world. This is exemplified by our most recent developments in leading-edge 6G-era technologies, generative AI hybrid computing, and 5G-Advanced solutions, which will be on display this week.
– said Joe Chen, President of MediaTek, February 2025.
Three major companies have decided to help MediaTek realize its 6G vision: NVIDIA, Intel and G REIGNS. At Mobile World Congress 2025, MediaTek plans to demonstrate its Hybrid Computing innovation that brings together a device cloud + RAN as an “edge cloud,” a very important technology component proposed for upcoming 6G standardization.
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One other interesting technology that MediaTek will showcase at MWC 2025 is sub-band full duplex (SBFD), which is physical layer applicable to 5G-Advanced and 6G and is meant to boost uplink coverage and reduce latency.
Developed in collaboration with Keysight, the technology is supposed to mitigate self-interference of SBFD, which is especially an issue for smartphones because of the proximity of the transmitting and receiving antennas.
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Cosmin, a tech journalist with a career spanning over a decade, brings a wealth of experience to PhoneArena. His expertise lies in brands like Samsung and Nokia, and he has a keen interest in innovative technologies. After a brief stint in PR, Cosmin returned to tech journalism in 2016, committed to delivering clear and objective news. When he's not writing or appearing as a guest on TV and radio shows, Cosmin enjoys playing RPGs, watching Netflix, and nurturing his passion for history and travel.
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