IEEE Committee Raises Questions on Google Project Soli Waiver

IEEE 802 raised concerns about a waiver Google is seeking for its Project Soli sensor technology. The tech uses the 57-64 GHz band and the company sought a waiver to operate at higher power levels consistent with what's allowed in Europe. The IEEE committee works on local area network and metropolitan area network standards. It isn't clear whether the proposal “incorporates sharing mechanisms for fair coexistence with other devices,” the committee said. It's also unclear whether at higher power levels, Soli devices would cause harmful interference to 802.11 devices, the committee said. Rules for the band were introduced in 1995 and were “designed with the understanding that multiple technologies that may be introduced in the future for operation in this band can share the spectrum,” the panel said: Google should have to produce more information. Comments were due Wednesday in docket 18-70 (see 1803120031). “Using a sensor that operates between 57 and 64 GHz, Project Soli devices capture motion in a three-dimensional space using a radar beam,” Google said, and such data can "enable touchless control of device functions or features.”