Snapdragon W5+ and W5 Gen 2 wearable platforms gain NB-NTN satellite support

Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ and W5 Gen 2 are new wearable platforms adding NB-NTN satellite support for emergencies to the Snapdragon W5+/W5 wearable platforms introduced in 2022, and found in various WearOS smartwatches and the Beacon W5 SoM.

The W5+/W5 Gen 2 platforms still feature a 1.7 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 processor, an Adreno A702 GPU, an AON QCC5100 ML co-processor (W5+ Gen 2 only), MIPI DSI and MIPI CSI interfaces, cellular connectivity, dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.3, GNSS, and optional NFC support. The main changes are NB-NTN support, an upgrade to 3GPP Rel 17 with Cat 1Bis, a 20% (or 30% depending on where you read) smaller RF frontend, and 50% more accurate GPS in urban or deep canyon areas.

Snapdragon W5+/W5 Gen 2 specifications:

• SWS5100 SoC
  • CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 processor @ up to 1.7 GHz
  • GPU – Qualcomm Adreno A702 @ up to 1 GHz with OpenGL ES 3.1 API support + W5+ Gen2 only: 2.5D GPU
  • DSP – Qualcomm Hexagon DSP V66K
  • ISP – Qualcomm Spectra
  • System Memory – 16-bit LPDDR4 up to 2,133 MHz
  • Storage – eMMC 4.5 flash
  • Process – 4nm
• AON QCC5100 Co-processor (W5+ Gen 2 only)
  • CPU – Cortex-M55 always-on core @ 250MHz
  • AI accelerator – Arm Ethos-U55 NPU
  • Process – 22nm
• Display – MIPI DSI interface (SoC), QSPI with DDR interface (AON co-processor)
• Camera
  • Dual-camera up to 16MP
  • 2x 4-lane MIPI CSI
  • Features: EIS 3.0, Multi-frame Noise Reduction (MFNR), Pseudo ZSL
• Wireless connectivity
  • Qualcomm RF Front-End (RFFE) solution – Size: 48mm2 (30% smaller than in the previous generation W5+/W5 platforms)
  • Cellular
    • Rel 17 with Cat 1bis (the specs read “Cat 1bix”, but it must be a typo)
    • Support for E911 with z-axis
    • LTE FDD, LTE TDD, 1x Adv, EV-DO Rev. A, TD-SCDMA, GSM/EDGE
    • Satellite – NB-NTN non-terrestrial networks 
  • Dual-band 802.11n 1×1 WiFi 4
  • Bluetooth 5.3, QHS (Qualcomm High Speed)
  • Location – BeiDou, Galileo, GLONASS, GPS with dual frequency (L1+L5) support; Location ML3.0 for an up to 50% GPS positioning accuracy in densely urban or deep canyon areas.​
  • NFC support via third-party
• USB – USB 2.0 interface
• Security Features – Qualcomm Processor Security, Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) 4.0.5
• Power
  • Qualcomm PWW5100 power management IC
  • Low power islands – Audio, Wi-Fi, GNSS
  • Low power states – RBSC, TWM, Deep Sleep, Hibernate

Software support remains the same with Wear OS by Google, Android, and FreeRTOS, with the latter running on the Cortex-M55 co-processor.

The main purpose of the Narrowband Non-Terrestrial Networks (NB-NTN) connection is to allow a Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2 smartwatch to transmit and receive emergency messages via satellite when out of cellular and Wi-Fi areas.

More details may be found on the product page and the “press note” (it looks like Qualcomm has a new word for everything…).

Support CNX Software! Donate via cryptocurrencies, become a Patron on Patreon, or purchase goods on Amazon or Aliexpress. We also use affiliate links in articles to earn commissions if you make a purchase after clicking on those links.