Description
802.11bf (in standardisation; expected ratification 2025-2026) is the first IEEE standard to formally define WLAN Sensing as a service alongside data communication. It specifies sensing-by-proxy via CSI, dedicated NDP (Null Data Packet) sensing exchanges, multi-AP coordination, and a sensing measurement API exposed to the application layer. For the thesis it represents the target end-state of CSI sensing — moving from hacked-firmware research to standards-compliant infrastructure-grade sensing. This is the future-direction note: papers that argue "CSI sensing is converging to a standard" cite 802.11bf.
Specs / capabilities
- Sensing modes: SBP (Sensing By Proxy), monostatic, multistatic, multi-AP coordinated sensing
- Defines sensing session setup, measurement schedule, and reporting frame formats
- Operates over 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) and 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) PHYs
- Standardises sensing-aware MAC primitives (NDP, sensing-trigger frames)
- Application-layer API for sensing-as-a-service
Tooling
- No commodity hardware exposes 802.11bf NDP exchanges as of mid-2026
- Reference implementations expected from major vendors after ratification
- Pre-standard prototypes in academic literature (Restuccia 2022, Du 2022, Chen 2023)
Used by (papers)
- Future-direction citations in CSI sensing surveys
- Position papers arguing for native Wi-Fi sensing infrastructure