This thesis describes environmental data collection and transmission from the field to a server using Wi-Fi. Also discussed are components, radio wave propagation, received power calculations, and throughput tests. Measured receive power resulted close to calculated and simulated values. Throughput tests resulted satisfactory. The thesis provides detailed systematic procedures for Wi-Fi radio link setup and techniques to optimize the quality of a radio link.

Zero-knowledge proofs protocols are effective interactive methods to prove a node's identity without disclosing any additional information other than the veracity of the proof. They are implementable in several ways. In this thesis, I investigate the graph isomorphism based zero-knowledge proofs protocol. My experiments and analyses suggest that graph isomorphism can easily be solved for many types of graphs and hence is not an ideal solution for implementing ZKP.

Over-the-air programming systems for wireless sensor networks have drawbacks that stem from fundamental limitations in the hardware used in current sensor nodes. Also, advances in technology make it feasible to use capacitors as the sole energy storage mechanism for sensor nodes using energy harvesting, but most current designs require additional electronics. These two considerations led to the design of a new sensor node. A microcontroller was chosen that meets the Popek and Goldberg virtualization requirements. The hardware design for this new sensor node is presented, as well as a preliminary operating system. The prototypes are tested, and demonstrated to be sustainable with a capacitor and solar panel. The issue of capacitor leakage is considered and measured.