RedCap caps bandwidth at 20 MHz and drops the two-receive-branch requirement, so a RedCap device can ship with a single well-designed antenna instead of a MIMO set. It does not relax band coverage — that 20 MHz is instantaneous bandwidth, not frequency range.
| Item | RedCap (Rel-17) | eRedCap (Rel-18) |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen | June 2022 | June 2024 |
| Max bandwidth | 20 MHz in FR1 (vs 100 MHz for full NR) | 20 MHz RF; optional 5 MHz baseband |
| Peak rate (spec) | up to 226 Mbps DL / 120 Mbps UL | 10 Mbps DL / 10 Mbps UL (mandatory cap) |
| Peak rate (real world) | ≈85–226 Mbps DL / 90–120 Mbps UL per GSMA June 2026 | 10/10 Mbps |
| Transmit antennas | 1T | 1T |
| Receive antennas | 1R or 2R (2R mandatory in FR2) | 1R (1T1R) |
| Downlink MIMO layers | 1–2 in FR1 (a 2R device runs 2 layers) | 1 — no MIMO |
| Carrier aggregation / dual connectivity | Not supported | Not supported |
| Duplex | FD-FDD or optional HD-FDD | HD-FDD is the target mode |
| Modulation | 64-QAM mandatory, 256-QAM optional | — |
| Network | 5G Standalone core required, RedCap enabled in the RAN | Same |
| Power saving | eDRX up to ~2.91 h in RRC_IDLE | Improved further in Rel-18 |
Positioning, per GSMA: RedCap is the LTE Cat-4 migration path; eRedCap is the explicit LTE Cat-1 / Cat-1 bis replacement. If you currently ship Cat-1 bis products, eRedCap is the roadmap that matters.
The 5G NR "at least two receive branches" expectation does not apply to RedCap. A 1T1R or 1T2R sensor needs one antenna element. This is a genuine BOM and layout saving: no second feed, no isolation requirement between two elements, no envelope-correlation target to hit.
But note the trade-off GSMA states plainly: a 1R device may see roughly half the peak downlink throughput of an equivalent 1T2R device, and a 1R-only device costs the network more downlink power per connection — some operators may deprioritise them. Single-antenna devices are more sensitive to antenna placement, not less: with no diversity fallback, ground-plane size, cable loss and detuning from the battery or a metal panel all bite harder.
This is the most common misconception in RedCap antenna sourcing. 20 MHz is instantaneous bandwidth, not frequency coverage. If the operator runs n78 (3300–3800 MHz), your antenna must cover n78 — exactly as a full-NR device would. Size reality check, quarter wavelength in air:
| Frequency | λ/4 |
|---|---|
| 700 MHz | ≈107 mm |
| 900 MHz | ≈83 mm |
| 1800 MHz | ≈42 mm |
| 3500 MHz | ≈21 mm |
A 60 mm sensor board has no realistic path to good 700 MHz efficiency without an external element. Low bands still need big antennas or external elements — RedCap does not change physics.
Duplexers and duplex filters are band-specific parts. HD-FDD is, in GSMA's words, "agnostic to band usage", which dramatically simplifies a product that must ship across several regions. For antenna buyers this means the RF front end is more tolerant of a single wideband antenna — a real advantage for a global SKU.
| Milestone | Date | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Operators investing (GSA) | Aug 2025 | 34 operators in 24 countries |
| Commercial launches | 2025 | China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom; T-Mobile US; AT&T nationwide across 200 M+ people; STC Kuwait; Dito Philippines |
| First mainstream consumer device | Fall 2025 | Apple Watch Series 11 / Ultra 3 with 5G RedCap |
| Private-network trial | 2025–2026 | Hyundai × Samsung over private 5G at Ulsan, expanding into the EV plant |
| eRedCap modules | 2026 shipping, volume from 2027 | Qualcomm, MediaTek, ASR, Sequans silicon; Fibocom, Quectel, Telit Cinterion, SIMCom modules |
Forecasts — label them as forecasts. ABI Research projects about 80 million cumulative RedCap module shipments for 2024–2029, with roughly 71 % of those eRedCap. Omdia has published a figure of 700 million+ RedCap/eRedCap connections by 2030; a second, higher Omdia-derived number (approaching 1 billion) also circulates. Cite one, with its date.
`` 1. Confirm the module's antenna count: 1R or 2R? ├─ 1R → one antenna; invest in placement, ground plane, low cable loss └─ 2R → two elements; budget for isolation and envelope correlation 2. List the operator's actual bands — do not assume RedCap relaxes them 3. Check the low band: if 700/800 MHz is in the list, plan for size or an external element 4. Size the ground plane for the lowest band you must cover 5. Decide FD-FDD vs HD-FDD with the module vendor; HD-FDD frees you from per-band duplexers 6. Verify VSWR and efficiency across every band, in the final enclosure ``
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Commercial milestones are drawn from operator announcements and trade coverage; shipment and connection figures are analyst forecasts and labelled accordingly. Refresh cycle: 3 months.
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