Written by Andrew Wooden
Ericsson, Vodafone and Qualcomm say they have demonstrated the first Reduced Capability data sessions on a European network, pitched as a way for IoT devices to transmit data more efficiently.
The demo took place in September in the Spanish city of Ciudad Real, running on Ericsson’s RedCap RAN software, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X35 platform, and Vodafone Spain’s live testing 5G network ‘CREATE’ (Ciudad Real España Advanced Testing Environment).
RedCap is supposed to allow devices like smartwatches or smart water meters to connect to 5G networks and transmit data at low power and lower cost.
The release states that the Snapdragon X35 platform is world’s first NR-Light modem RF, and this technology appears to underpin the demo. New Radio Light (NR-Light), we’re told, works with less complex gadgets than traditional mobile broadband devices (phones) and can also ‘complement the network APIs developed by Vodafone for its customers to extend the battery life of their devices.’
“This successful demonstration is an exciting moment for OEMs, network operators and network users, because it highlights a clear path to new devices and commercial use cases,” said Dino Flore, Vice President, Technology, Qualcomm Europe.
