China's science and technology are gradually stepping towards the top of the world, becoming more and more advanced. 5G technology has been a hot topic. Recently, SIMCom Wireless Solutions Limited (SIMCom), a leading global supplier of machine-to-machine (M2M) modules and solution provider, debuted its new product SIM8202G-M2 (the world's first-ever smallest 5G module) at the 2020 International Internet of Things Exhibition.

The new product is mainly developed by the R&D team of Chongqing SIMCom Wireless Technology Co., Ltd. (Chongqing SIMCom), which is located in China Intelligence Valley (Chongqing) Science Park in Nan'an District. The smallest 5G module released up till now in the world can perfectly solve the limit problem caused by high integration density, and dramatically reduce the cost of user-end design and use.

SIM8202G-M2 is a kind of multi-band 5G module with a small size, which redesigns and integrates a variety of kits, thus supporting standalone (SA)/non-standalone (NSA) networks, and covering the network spectrum of major operators around the world. The product adopts a standard M2 interface, thus making it compatible with a variety of communication protocols. It boasts powerful expansion capability and many interfaces, including PCIe, USB3.1, and GPIO. Meanwhile, the AT order is compatible with modules of the SIM7912G / SIM8200X-M2 series, which can minimize clients' investment costs and quickly go to the market.

The main features of the new product lie in that it is small, thin, and light. The 30×42mm ultra-small wrapping design effectively meets the requirements of the 5G module for multi-frequency, high performance, high broadband, and multi-system. Wang Guoqiang, head of the SIMCom R&D team, said that SIM8202G-M2 has a super small wrapping size, only 30×42mm. The size reduction brings great challenges to technology and process design. For instance, the layout density increases, resulting in limited line width inside the module and making it tougher to realize insulation blocking of high-speed signal lines, RF sensitive lines and clock signals, and routing of impedance control. Therefore, Zhong Yibo, Tan Changshun, and other senior engineers of the Chongqing SIMCom R&D team kept optimizing schemes and abandoning redundant designs, and finally developed the end product.

The team optimized the electromagnetic compatibility, high-frequency reliability, and antenna heat dissipation on the product. For example, the brand-new four-antenna design can effectively improve communication capacity and keep the high-speed and stable data transmission. In addition, a large area of exposed copper on the back of the product can effectively facilitate silicone heat conduction.

SIM8202G-M2, with its ultra-high-speed transmission and low latency, can be widely applied to demand terminals such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and customer-provided equipment (CPE), and create application scenarios such as the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs), the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), smart medical care, and 4K/8K HD surveillance camera, to facilitate the intellectual connection of all things, according to Wang Ziyao, head of the 5G project of Chongqing SIMCom. At the same time, it can also meet the requirements of small-volume equipment for small-size 5G modules.

Up to now, SIMCom has completed 5G product samples with China Mobile (Chengdu) Industrial Research Institute, Coolpad, and Hongdian, and applied the SIM8202G-M2 module to various terminals such as laptops, CPE and drones.

Of course, research and development of powerful chips are not easy. To seize the opportunity of scientific and technological development, the company overcame difficulties under the high-pressure environment of epidemic prevention. With the strong back-up of iValley, it became the first company to resume work in the science park, which has bought precious time to create today's achievements.