RedCap Reduced Capability NR
A 5G NR (New Radio) device class, introduced in 3GPP Release 17, designed to sit between high-end eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband) / URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication) devices and low-power LTE-M / NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT). It deliberately constrains UE (User Equipment) capability, with reduced maximum bandwidth (20 MHz in FR1, 100 MHz in FR2), fewer receive antenna branches, an optional half-duplex FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) mode, relaxed processing timelines and lower peak data rates, to cut device cost, complexity and power consumption relative to full-capability NR UEs. Typical targets are mid-tier use cases such as industrial wireless sensors, video surveillance and wearables. Release 18 added eRedCap (enhanced RedCap), which lowers the maximum bandwidth further (to around 5 MHz of baseband processing) for even simpler, lower-cost devices.
