P40 - MooNet: Low-Power Mesh Backbone for Livestock Monitoring
- Event
- iCCC2026 - iCampus Cottbus Conference
2026-05-05 - 2026-05-07
Cottbus - Band
- Poster
- Chapter
- Kommunikation
- Author(s)
- N. S. Chatharajupalli, R. Rotta, J. Nolte - BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus
- Pages
- 280 - 283
- DOI
- 10.5162/iCCC2026/P40
- ISBN
- 978-3-910600-10-2
- Price
- free
Abstract
Continuous monitoring of livestock health enables farmers to quickly detect and react to threats. For example, bolus sensors in the rumen stomach are widely used for cows in combination with location tracking information. Most bolus solutions use LoRa radios to transmit the sensor data and use the received signal strength for localization. However, the number of LoRa gateways needed for area coverage and localization together with their energy demands makes outdoor operation prohibitively costly. This paper examines the combination of low-power LoRa receivers with a low-power mesh network for long-term operation. In particular, it analyses the impact of different communication protocol designs on the power consumption. By synchronizing the activity schedules of sensors and mesh nodes, the proposed design achieves an average power consumption as low as 6mW, while remaining scalable to 10⁰⁰ sensors. The respective significant reduction in solar panel and battery size makes it possible to economically operate such receivers outdoors.