Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

2-2015

Abstract

Can WiFi signals be used for sensing purpose? The growing PHY layer capabilities of WiFi has made it possible to reuse WiFi signals for both communication and sensing. Sensing via WiFi would enable remote sensing without wearable sensors, simultaneous perception and data transmission without extra communication infrastructure, and contactless sensing in privacypreserving mode. Due to the popularity of WiFi devices and the ubiquitous deployment of WiFi networks, WiFi-based sensing networks, if fully connected, would potentially rank as one of the world’s largest wireless sensor networks. Yet the concept of wireless, sensorless and contactless sensing is no simple combination of WiFi and radar. It seeks breakthroughs from dedicated radar systems, and aims to balance between low cost and high accuracy, to meet the rising demand for pervasive environment perception in everyday life. Despite increasing research interest, wireless sensing is still in its infancy. Through introductions on basic principles and working prototypes, we review the feasibilities and limitations of wireless, sensorless and contactless sensing via WiFi. We envision this article as a brief primer on wireless sensing for interested readers to explore this open and largely unexplored field and create next-generation wireless and mobile computing applications.

Discipline

Software Engineering

Research Areas

Software and Cyber-Physical Systems

Publication

Tsinghua Science and Technology

Volume

20

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

6

ISSN

1007-0214

Identifier

10.1109/TST.2015.7040509

Publisher

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1109/TST.2015.7040509

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