The 5G Moto Will Feature Sensors That Will Limit Radiation

Back in August, Motorola announced that it will release the world’s first 5G smartphone – a Verizon exclusive Moto Z3 that will come with an optional 5G Moto Mod which will allegedly be using Qualcomm x50 and x24 modems.

This module will reportedly allow the users to access the snappy 5Gbps cellular connection much faster than, Motorola says, any landlines out there.

For now, we can only take Motorola’s word for it but we did find out something very interesting thanks to an FCC document that surfaced online recently.

The document states that the 5G Moto Mod will feature proximity sensors that will turn off any of its 5G antennas if the users’ fingers happen to get too close.

Part of the document goes as follows:

“As mentioned in the device description, capacitive and proximity sensors are used to disable transmission from a given mm-wave antenna array module when a user may be located in close proximity to the module and in a direction in which the module may transmit.

The control mechanism is a simple one in which, if proximity detectors indicate the potential presence of the user within a roughly conical region in front of the module where power density may approach the MPE limit, that module is disabled from use by the modem. This terminates and prevents transmission from the module in question until the condition is cleared.”

Before you start getting worried about getting radiation sickness, we have to let you know that milimeter wave radiation does not come with enough energy to allow it to tear apart any living tissue – you’ve probably been exposed to more radiation by getting an MRI scan or going through an airport body scanner.

Motorola is simply making sure that the system complies with FCC’s milimeter wave exposure limit. According to the document, the Mod can also automatically pick an antenna with a better signal strength if your hand or fingers happen to block the others.

The document also mentions that the 5G Moto Mod is compatible with the Moto Z3 Pro, which means that the device has only so far been tested on this particular handset but, even so, it’s worth wondering if other manufacturers that will bring in 5G on their smartphones will be implementing similar systems on their devices as well.

At the moment, we don’t know if the 5G Moto Mod will make an appearance any time soon but we can make a guess Motorola will at least mention it in passing during the Mobile World Congress.