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Infineon publicly described joint development with Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, then said its XENSIV 60 GHz radar IC was integrated into the Pixel 4—the first mobile device to use that Infineon IC, according to the company. Google’s account explains how Soli worked in the phone; neither company’s public material establishes whether Infineon competed against other chip suppliers or precisely divides the engineering work.
What Infineon’s role in Soli was
Infineon’s 2015 investor presentation said it and Google ATAP were jointly developing a radar-based sensing solution. Infineon reported that first implementations were demonstrated at Google I/O on May 30, 2015, and named wearables, Internet of Things devices, and automotive systems as potential applications at that point. Those were early project directions, not evidence that Soli products later shipped in those categories. Infineon’s 2015 presentation is the company’s account of that collaboration.
In a November 2019 investor presentation, Infineon identified the Pixel 4 as the first mobile device to integrate an Infineon XENSIV 60 GHz radar IC. That statement establishes the supplier’s claimed component role; it does not mean Infineon alone invented Soli or designed every part of the phone’s sensing system. Infineon’s November 2019 presentation describes the chip integration.
How Soli worked in the Pixel 4
Google described Soli as a miniature radar sensor placed in the top of the Pixel 4. The phone used it for Motion Sense, which let users perform touchless gestures such as skipping songs, snoozing alarms, and silencing calls. Google also described presence and reach detection: the phone could respond as a person approached, including priming face unlock as the person reached for the device and adjusting alarm behavior. These are system-level functions described by Google, not a claim that every capability listed for Infineon’s IC appeared as a Pixel feature. See Google’s Pixel 4 Motion Sense announcement.
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In a 2020 technical account, Google ATAP engineering authors Jaime Lien and Nicholas Gillian explain that Pixel 4 Soli transmitted a 60 GHz frequency-modulated radar signal and received reflections from nearby objects and people. By analyzing changes across successive transmissions, the system could distinguish subtle movement patterns. Google gives the antenna-array package dimensions as 5 mm × 6.5 mm × 0.873 mm. Google Research’s technical explanation describes the system and its integration.
Google’s authors said Motion Sense presence and gesture detection did not require creating a recognizable image of a person’s body or face. That statement is specific to the Soli detection pipeline they describe; it should not be generalized to every Pixel sensor or to every part of face unlock.
What the component capability list does—and does not—show
Infineon’s 2019 presentation lists gesture sensing, tracking tiny motions, presence and movement detection, distance and speed measurement, and possible heartbeat detection among capabilities of the IC or radar technology. A supplier’s capability list is not proof that Google enabled each function in Pixel 4. Google’s public descriptions identify Motion Sense gestures and proximity or reach-related behavior as Pixel 4 uses.
Google’s ATAP engineering authors characterized the phone milestone this way: “The successful integration of Soli into the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL devices demonstrates for the first time the feasibility of radar-based machine perception in an everyday mobile consumer device.” The claim is about demonstrating feasibility in a consumer mobile device, not a claim that radar-based sensing had never existed in other contexts.
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Did Infineon beat other suppliers for the Pixel 4?
The available public accounts establish collaboration and Infineon’s stated integration of its XENSIV IC, but they do not answer whether Google considered or selected competing radar-chip suppliers. An EE Times result posed that supplier-competition question; the cited material does not resolve it. It also does not disclose commercial terms, establish that the Infineon IC was exclusive to Google, or quantify the exact division of design work between Infineon and Google ATAP.
The evidence discussed here documents the Pixel 4 generation. It does not establish whether Soli was deployed in later products or remains in current use.
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