Qualcomm recently announced plans to provide satellite-based connectivity to next-generation Android smartphones. Cellular-to-satellite communication for Android handsets will be made possible thanks to a partnership between Qualcomm and Iridium.
The service, known as Snapdragon Satellite, will first be accessible on mobile platforms supported by the Snapdragon 5G modem, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform.
Iridium’s L-band spectrum will be used for the service’s uplink and downlink to enable two-way messaging. In the second half of the year, the first Snapdragon Satellite-equipped Android handsets are anticipated to go on sale.
Although Qualcomm claims Snapdragon Satellite will first be used in smartphones, it may also be used in laptops, tablets, cars, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. OEMs and app developers will be able to distinguish and offer distinctive branded services that employ satellite connectivity.
The L-band spectrum used by the Iridium satellite constellation, which Snapdragon Satellite will use, is “more resilient to weather” than frequencies utilized by other networks, according to Iridium. Snapdragon Satellite-enabled Android handsets still require a clear sky to function, but with a strong connection, messages can be transferred in as low as 10 seconds.
Similar to Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite capability, which is made possible through cooperation with Globalstar, Qualcomm claims that the Snapdragon Satellite technology will initially be utilized for emergency communications.
Qualcomm also lists SMS texting and connectivity in isolated, rural, and offshore areas as potential uses for Snapdragon Satellite, indicating that it might have more applications in the future than just responding to emergencies.
The news from Qualcomm and Iridium comes just after Apple unveiled the iPhone 14, which has an emergency SOS satellite message service that uses the Globalstar satellite network.
Users of Apple iPhones can get this service, named Emergency SOS through Satellite, for free for two years. Apple spent $450 million to make this service available. It’s not a great surprise that Iridium and Qualcomm announced their partnership because there was much anticipation that Iridium would compete in the smartphone-to-satellite market.
Earlier this week, Space News reported that Iridium and Samsung had a cellular-to-satellite agreement after Samsung disclosed in a regulatory filing that it is entitled to royalties, development fees, and network usage fees from an unnamed new technology.
According to Qualcomm, the manufacturer of GPS-based devices Garmin Ltd will organize emergency response services for users.
Qualcomm was able to update the Snapdragon platform to connect to the Iridium network without needing to make any hardware upgrades to the baseband or the transceiver, according to Francesco Grilli, VP of product management at Qualcomm.
Grilli claimed that a number of Android smartphone devices are already under development that would support Snapdragon He said that Western Europe and North America would be the first regions to sell smartphones with this feature.
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