Today, Qualcomm introduced the sixth generation of its Snapdragon X16 modem, capable of bringing Category 16 LTE speeds of up to 1Gbps to your mobile device.

The Snapdragon X16 is the first chip to use Qualcomm’s new modem design, which uses modular components and a scalable system architecture to allow for a massive variety of applications. As the Internet of Things continues to expand, Qualcomm is positioning itself well to become the go-to manufacturer for IoT connectivity.

Gigabit Speeds on Mobile

Spectrum aggregation has been responsible for most recent advances in LTE speeds, which combines portions of the wireless spectrum over multiple antennas, which provides greater bandwidth. The 20MHz spectrum is most commonly used by mobile phones today, with most smartphones using a few portions of that spectrum to achieve download speeds that max out around 450Mbps. The X16 can use the same portions of the 20MHz bandwidth alongside unlicensed spectrum.

Theoretical Speed Limit

While the possibility of gigabit speeds on your mobile device is intriguing, it’s important to remember that the 1Gbps figure cited by Qualcomm is a theoretical limit. As such, most LTE networks today won’t support those kinds of speeds, but as the technology develops we can anticipate that most carriers will want to push their infrastructure toward full compatibility. The X16 will be rolled out in devices shipping in the second half of this year.