Algorithms for IEEE 802.11bf Sensing Under Unknown Environmental Conditions

Develop algorithms for processing IEEE 802.11bf Wi‑Fi sensing measurements that detect target features under unknown environmental conditions, ensuring effective target characterization without prior knowledge of the environment.

Background

IEEE 802.11bf is a forthcoming Wi‑Fi standard aimed at enabling joint communication and sensing by introducing new mechanisms at the physical and MAC layers to trigger and exchange sensing measurements. While these mechanisms standardize how measurements are obtained and shared, they do not specify how to process these measurements to infer target features.

The paper positions SHARP as a solution for human activity recognition robust to people and environment changes using commodity Wi‑Fi devices, but it acknowledges that, at the standardization level, the broader algorithmic problem of processing IEEE 802.11bf sensing measurements under unknown environmental conditions remains unresolved.

References

However, the standard is focused on innovative and cooperative control mechanisms for triggering and exchanging sensing measurements. The definition of algorithms for processing these measurements and detect features of a target, under unknown environmental conditions, is still an open issue.

— SHARP: Environment and Person Independent Activity Recognition with Commodity IEEE 802.11 Access Points  (2103.09924 - Meneghello et al., 2021) in Section 1 (Introduction)