This project centers on the Featherlight Information Network with Delay-Endurable RFID Support (FINDERS), composed of passive RFID tags which are ultra light, durable, and flexible, without power supply for long-lasting applications under strict weight constraints and harsh environments. It expands the use of RFID gear for wireless network construction, aiming to find events of interest and gather aggregate information. FINDERS faces unprecedented challenges in communication and networking, due to its sporadic wireless links, unique asymmetric communication paradigm, intermittent computation capability, and extremely small memory of tags. The objectives of this project include the establishment of fundamentals and principles, system design and optimization, mathematical analysis and modeling, and prototyping and experimental evaluation of the FINDERS system. The success of this project will not only advance the scientific study of wireless sensor networks and RFID systems but also serve as a new paradigm for pervasive data acquisition under strict weight constraints and harsh environments. The technologies and the prototype of FINDERS to be developed in this project will immediately benefit wildlife and biological research projects. In the long term, it will foster multi-disciplinary research opportunities for future relevant projects, effectively strengthening the research competitive edge of UL Lafayette. The research results will be disseminated through conference presentations, journal publications, a dedicated website, and frequent lectures at our graduate seminars. The research problems and findings and the testbed developed in this project will enrich course materials, provide students with hands-on experience, and attract more graduate students into this emerging area.
