UNISOC, a leading Chinese semiconductor company, performed a live demonstration at MWC Shanghai 2023, the World Mobile Communications Conference held from June 28 to 30. The company demonstrated its first system on chip (SoC) chip for satellite communications, the V8821, which will soon be launched on the market.
UNISOC presents its first SoC chip for satellite communications at MWC Shanghai 2023
The chip UNISOC V8821 is an innovative product that is based on the 3GPP NTN R17 standard, which defines the technical specifications for non-terrestrial networks (NTN), i.e. networks that use satellites as communication nodes. These networks can provide global coverage and reliable connectivity in areas where traditional cellular networks are difficult or impossible to reach, such as oceans, deserts, mountainous and polar areas.
The V8821 supports access to other high-orbit satellite systems via L-band maritime satellites and S-band Tiantong satellites. L-band refers to the electromagnetic wave frequency band with the frequency range of 1GHz ~ 2GHz, while S-band refers to the electromagnetic wave frequency band with a frequency range of 2GHz ~ 4GHz. These bands are widely used in satellite and terrestrial cellular communications.
The V8821 is capable of providing a variety of communication services including 5G NTN data transmission, short messages, calls, location sharing and others. The chip supports TCP/IP, which is the standard protocol for data transmission over the Internet, and is compatible with a variety of higher-level services and common IoT protocols. In addition, the chip can support customers to reuse hardware resources in the original solution, thereby improving implementation efficiency and avoiding high and time-consuming hardware costs.
UNISOC said the V8821 is the result of its strong research and development capability in the field of satellite communications and its commitment to promote technological innovation. The company also announced the launch of the world's first new 5G calling chip solution, and completed the RedCap R17 key technology lab verification and field performance test under the leadership of the IMT-2020 promotion group. IMT-2020 stands for International Mobile Telecommunications-2020, which is the global project for the development of fifth generation mobile technologies.
