MediaTek has been churning out a lot of 5G chipsets but none of these processors have support for the mmWave spectrum. The Taiwanese semiconductor company has now announced a new modem called the Helio M80, and it has support for mmWave.

The Helio M80 is the successor to the Helio M70 modem found inside the Dimensity 1000 series. The new modem not only brings support for mmWave networks but also touts faster uplink (3.76 Gbps) and downlink (7.67 Gbps) speeds. That is a big boost over the Helio M70’s 2.5Gbps and 4.7Gbps uplink and downlink speeds respectively.

MediaTek says in the press release that the new modem supports both non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) architectures, dual 5G SIM, dual 5G NSA and SA networks, and dual Voice over New Radio (VoNR). Below is the full list of radio access technologies that the modem offers:

• 3GPP Release 16 standard
• Sub-6 GHz and mmWave dual connectivity and carrier aggregation
• 5G NR (FR1) with carrier aggregation
• 5G mmWave (FR2) up to 8CC
• 5G carrier aggregation with Mixed Duplex (TDD + FDD)
• Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) ready

The Helio M80 modem also comes with MediaTek’s UltraSave technologies for power-saving. ”The UltraSave Network Environment Detection and UltraSave OTA Content Awareness technologies dynamically adjust power configuration and operating frequency based on the network environment” says the press release. MediaTek adds that the modem will regularly remain powered in connected standby even when there is no data activity thanks to its Connected Mode DRX technology.

The new modem will reach customers later this year, so there is a chance we may see it in a processor before the end of 2021. MediaTek also has two other 5G modems that should appear on devices this year. There is the MediaTek T700 which will power 5G PCs launching this year and there is the MediaTek T750 that is designed for fixed wireless routers and mobile hotspot devices.

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