The MIPI Alliance announced at MIPI DevCon Seoul that all of its specifications relevant for applications in mobile platforms are 5G ready. 

Earlier this year, several major manufacturers began using MIPI specifications for their initial 5G devices, for instance, to connect 5G smartphone front-ends to modems, and application processors to cameras and displays. MIPI specifications are already capable of enabling 5G devices due to several factors:

  • MIPI specifications are widely used by multiple industries. Virtually all 4G smartphones—along with many tablets, connected cars and IoT devices—use at least one MIPI interface. As a result, systems designers, application developers and others have extensive experience with MIPI specifications, making them a natural choice for their 5G products.
  • High performance enables 5G to live up to its potential. End users expect 5G devices to be significantly faster and more responsive than 4G and 3G models. MIPI interfaces for storage access are ideal for the bandwidth-intensive data flows that come with 5G’s higher camera and display resolutions.
  • Low power consumption helps 5G smartphones and wearables maximize battery life. All MIPI specifications are designed to be highly power-efficient, helping to ensure that 5G devices last longer from a power perspective than their 4G and 3G predecessors. 
  • MIPI interfaces are optimized for low interference. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can undermine a device’s performance and reliability, and is a major concern with 5G because it uses far more spectrum bands than 3G and 4G. MIPI specifications are designed to meet stringent EMI requirements, even in wearables and other small 5G devices where less space between components means greater risk of EMI.

“Smartphone manufacturers, IoT developers and automakers already rely on MIPI’s highly regarded interfaces for their devices, and that broad, deep adoption greatly helps to enable the transition to 5G for the entire ecosystem,” said Joel Huloux, chairman of MIPI Alliance. “MIPI’s specifications are already ahead of the curve, which puts our member companies in an ideal position to capitalize on the enormous opportunities 5G offers.”

In addition to supporting the first wave of 5G smartphones, MIPI working groups are developing new specification versions to ensure that the interfaces continue to anticipate and meet future marketplace requirements. One example is the MIPI RFFE Working Group, which is developing new RF front-end capabilities such as higher data rates, more transmitter/receiver paths and more flexible programmability. Organizations are invited to join MIPI and help influence specification requirements to support future 5G use cases.