Cognitive Systems
Motion Sensing with WiFi Devices

Cognitive Systems Partners With Quantenna to Deliver the Truly Smart Home Experience

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

WATERLOO, Ontario - Cognitive Systems Corp. today announced that its patented Aura WiFi Motion™ technology will become a standard option for customers developing products based on the Quantenna® platform, in 2019.

Companies using Quantenna’s leading-edge Wi-Fi chipset technology will be able to license Aura WiFi Motion for use in their offerings, and millions of existing and future connected devices will leverage Aura’s advanced motion detection without the need for design changes or additional hardware. Together, Cognitive and Quantenna will enable home monitoring, remote monitoring (e.g., rental properties or elder care), and energy management, to create a truly smart home.

Cognitive’s WiFi Motion technology offers high-performance detection and localization of motion, validated by rigorous quality assurance testing in diverse, real-world environments, under a variety of stressed conditions. Cognitive is committed to the productization and mass deployment of its disruptive technology, which amplifies the utility of wireless networks beyond communication, and towards indoor environmental RF sensing.

“With Aura WiFi Motion, Cognitive Systems and Quantenna can leverage sophisticated signal processing and machine learning algorithms — all running at the edge — to enable robust detection and localization of motion within wireless environments,” said Dr. Nebu John Mathai, Executive Vice-President, Product Engineering, at Cognitive Systems. “In conjunction with Aura WiFi Motion, the Quantenna platform provides full home coverage — economically — and can leverage existing Wi-Fi client device deployments: no additional hardware required.”

By incorporating Aura WiFi Motion, end-users will experience a fully connected, customizable smart home with complete Wi-Fi coverage, remote monitoring, and energy management. For router companies, this integration enables other services that can be monetized without the need for additional hardware — and at a low cost. This generates additional revenue streams and differentiates products from the competition.

“As a global leader in high-performance Wi-Fi solutions, Quantenna aims to continually deliver innovative features and services that enhance user experience,” said Ambroise Popper, Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Marketing, at Quantenna Communications. “With the addition of Aura WiFi Motion as a standard option for our customers, we are another step closer to achieving our vision of the widespread and advanced usage of Wi-Fi technology.”

The strategic partnership between Cognitive Systems and Quantenna enables companies selling single access points and home gateways to leverage the advanced motion detection software in their connected products. This serves to advance the smart home industry for manufacturers and consumers alike, as the solution uses cutting-edge radio frequency motion algorithms and machine learning technology to allow people to monitor their homes without cameras or additional hardware.

WWC insights: Cognitive Systems introduces client-side Wi-Fi sensing for a host of new use cases

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Wi-Fi sensing leader Cognitive Systems – known for its WiFi Motion solution for ISPs – says it is now working with Wi-Fi SoC chipset providers to equip Wi-Fi client devices with sensing capabilities. Embedded Wi-Fi sensing technology will enable a host of new use cases from security through to smart home IoT and smart building applications, said Cognitive Systems CEO Taj Manku at WWC Toronto last month.

Canada-based Cognitive Systems is well known for its Wi-Fi sensing solutions, which have been deployed by more than ten tier-one ISPs and more than 150 tier 2 and 3 ISPs in 110 countries. Cognitive’s WiFi Motion service is typically accessible as an application allowing subscribers to monitor movement within the home from within their home broadband services app.

Now the company is expanding the case for Wi-Fi sensing by enabling Wi-Fi clients to become motion sensors by forming motion sensing networks, for example within the home. Previously the Wi-Fi sensing application has resided only in the AP or home gateway, Cognitive explains.

The solutions is based on embedding Wi-Fi sensing software into third-party Wi-Fi SoC chips such as for example those used in smart home IoT devices including smart plugs, smart lightbulbs, and security panels, said Cognitive Systems CEO Taj Manku at WWC Toronto last month. At least in theory the new approach opens up for an addressable market of perhaps hundreds of millions of devices, Taj Manku said.

“We’re already now working with a couple of Wi-Fi SoC chipset vendors to incorporate Wi-Fi motion capabilities into client devices, which will then be capable of forming a sensing mesh or ‘motion network’ with other sensing clients while of course still operating normally as Wi-Fi client devices. As an example a security panel and a smart bulb can be used to detect motion passing between them,” he said.

Cognitive Systems also says that moving sensing capabilities into clients opens up for a multitude of new use cases through the application of different network topologies. “Client-based sensing can for example be used to form a very resilient motion network between a number smart electrical plugs and a security panel or in a star-topology between smart lightbulbs and a smart switch. In the latter case the use case is of course turning lights on and off dependent on motion in the room,” Taj Manku said.

For smart building applications a daisy chain can be formed between smart switches across a whole building for example to make sure there are no people in the building in case of a fire or smoke alarm. In other cases some client devices may not be equipped for sensing but can still be used as part of a motion network because they still send out beacons, he said.

Using Wi-Fi clients for motion sensing will often provide less coverage per unit than when APs are used because sensing coverage depends strongly on antenna size. But Cognitive says localisation is very good with an accuracy of more than 90% and Cognitive’s extensive tests found no false detections at all. Cognitive Systems believes that on-chip motion capabilities gives chipset vendors a competitive edge towards winning more business with OEMs as well as a likely first-mover advantage for entering the expanding Wi-Fi sensing world.

WWC Toronto also featured a well-attended workshop on the new IEEE Wi-Fi sensing standard – dubbed IEEE 802.11bf – conducted by sensing technology experts from Intel and Cognitive Systems. The sensing standard is expected to be finalised by early 2025.

Cognitive Systems WiFi Motion software is today deployed in 9 million APs and home gateways. Taj Manku says the current most common sensing use case is a reliable ‘light’ security system that keeps a watchful eye on your home. But there is big potential for adding layers of other use cases in the future as the technology expands, he says.