SBIR Phase I: Enabling Third-Party Services on WiFi Access Points through Multi-Tenancy and Improved RF Management

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to optimize today's segmented Internet architecture by providing a cohesive software platform that operates on WiFi Access Points. The proposed technology transforms the WiFi Access Point to provide new applications and services locally for home users and for small and medium businesses. It has many benefits for its end users, e.g. applications that can better protect privacy of users, the ability to better protect children as they browse the Internet, and the creation of new applications supporting home automation, security, and entertainment. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is creating unique technology that allows a commodity WiFi Access Point to become a multi-function device by transforming it as an edge-computing platform. It enables lightweight virtualization that allows multiple third-party services to co-exist through resource isolation and sharing. It also enables advanced RF management by which interference from diverse wireless emitters (e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, game controllers, and even microwave ovens) can be detected, quantified, and mitigated.