High-Degree Connectivity Sensor Networks: Applications in Pastured Cow Herd Monitoring

This paper explores the application of mobile sensor networks in cow herds, focusing on the challenge of achieving local communication under minimal computational constraints such as restricted locality, limited memory, and implicit coordination. To address this, we propose a high connectivity based sensor network scheme that enables individual sensors to self-organize and dynamically adapt to topological variations caused by cow movements. In this scheme, each sensor acquires local distribution data from neighboring sensors, identifies those with high connectivity, and forms a local network with a star topology. The overlap of these local networks results in a globally interconnected mesh topology. Furthermore, information exchanged through broadcasting and overhearing allows each sensor to incrementally update and adapt to dynamic changes in its local network. To validate the proposed scheme, a custom wireless sensor tag was developed and mounted on the necks of individual cows for experimental testing. Furthermore, large-scale simulations were performed to evaluate performance in herd environments. Both experimental and simulation results confirmed that the scheme effectively maintains network coverage and connectivity under dynamic herd conditions.