Our view of the Wi-Fi sensing ecosystem including standardisation bodies, silicon vendors, software vendors, integrators, service providers, and more. This guide is based on publicly available information from primary sources, including IEEE documents, company publications, product announcements, and technical presentations available at the time of writing.

If Wi-Fi sensing is to become a mainstream capability available across millions of homes, enterprises, and public venues, the industry will require a common framework. That is where IEEE 802.11bf comes in. The standard is laying the foundation for an interoperable Wi-Fi sensing ecosystem.

Wi-Fi sensing is often described as “using Wi-Fi to detect motion.” That description is technically correct – but it barely scratches the surface. Modern Wi-Fi sensing systems don’t simply detect that something moved. Instead they measure extraordinarily small changes in radio propagation, and more.

Instead of installing cameras, motion detectors or wearable devices, Wi-Fi sensing uses radio signals that are already travelling through a home, office or other indoor environment. The immediate applications include motion and presence detection, home security, occupancy monitoring and assisted living.