The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm brought an ever-increasing dependence on low-power devices to collect sensor data and transmit that information to the cloud, placing greater demand on connectivity and lifespan. In response, rapid worldwide innovation demonstrates the trade-offs in processing, communication, and energy consumption with diverse approaches to low-power components, duty-cycle schemes, cost, and many other critical constraints for complex use-cases, such as track-and-trace (T&T). This work explores the central theme of low-power wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in the IoT and Industrial IoT (IIoT). A collection of publications evolves through the theme, from an IoT literature review to enabling densely-scalable WSNs for logistics & asset management (LAM). Next, this research enhances the WSN design by leveraging wake-up radio (WUR) and energy harvesting (EH) to achieve battery-free operation. Lastly, this work presents WSNs to improve visibility and control of airflow/microclimate management in potentially transformative IIoT use-cases, such as data centers and agriculture
