Qualcomm Gobi is a family of embedded mobile broadband modem products by Qualcomm. Gobi technology was designed to allow for any product with the embedded solution to connect to the internet anywhere a wireless carrier provides data coverage. One of the more notable products that contain a Gobi modem is the IPhone 4 for Verizon, which contains a MDM6600™, however it does not take advantage of the support for HSPA+. [1]
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On October 23, 2007, Qualcomm announced the first set of Gobi-enabled chipsets to be commercially available in the second quarter of 2008. [2] [3] The first chip produced by Qualcomm, the MDM1000™, gained support from PC manufacturer HP [4] as well as wireless carriers Vodafone and Verizon. [5]
Two years later, on February 11, 2009, Qualcomm announced the second generation of Gobi-enabled chipsets, the MDM2000™. The MDM2000™ added support for additional frequencies which are prevalent in Japan and rural Europe, improved uplink capabilities and other software upgrades. [6]
The third, and most recent, generation of Gobi-enabled chipsets was announced on March 23, 2010 however this generation consists of a total of 6 different chips which support different ranges of wireless standards and data rates. The reasoning behind the multiple chips was to address additional markets such as USB modems, e-readers, gaming devices and machine to machine commercial applications. [7] Qualcomm also introduced software enhancements for select Mobile Data Modem (MDM) chipsets that enabled “a common Gobi software interface (API) across multiple hardware platforms.” [8]
The main feature of the Gobi modems is their support of multiple wireless standards such as GSM and CDMA. Newer modems also have support for 4G wireless standards such as HSPA+ and LTE, with a notable omission of WiMax. [8] [9] The extensive support of wireless standards allows consumers to choose between multiple carriers based on the modem present in their device. What standard the modem supports and at what rates depends on the chip being used.
Below is a list of Gobi-enabled modem chipsets released by Qualcomm and their features:
MDM1000™: [5]
MDM2000™: [6]
MDM6600™:
MDM8200A™:
MDM8220™:
MDM9200™:
MDM9600™:
Mobile Innovation Awards - Mobile Computing – LAPTOP Magazine [1]