Long range low power livestock monitoring

Abstract

Systems for long range low power cattle monitoring include a tail patch for sensing mounting activity and communicating the sensed activity via low power communications techniques. Low power, LoRaWAN, communications with long range capabilities can provide extended range for monitoring breeding activity while conserving energy use.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A long range livestock monitor for communicating breeding periods of an animal asset, the monitor comprising:
 a flexible tail mount housing for securing about the animal asset's tail head near the asset's hindquarters,   a mount detector arranged within the tail mount housing, the mount detector configured to sense physical effect of asset mounting and to responsively generate a mount indicator signal, and   a communications control system in communication with the mount detector, the communications control system including a processor for receiving the mount indicator signal from the mount detector and determining mounting activity based on the mount indicator signal, and a transmitter for communicating a mounting signal indicating mounting responsive to determination of mounting activity.   
     
     
         2 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the tail mounting housing is coupled to the asset by conforming engagement with a tail head of the asset. 
     
     
         3 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , further comprising flexible control board within the flexible tail mount housing. 
     
     
         4 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 3 , wherein the flexible control board extends across a tail head of the asset with conforming curvature. 
     
     
         5 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 3 , wherein the mount detector is coupled with the flexible control board. 
     
     
         6 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 5 , wherein the mount detector is formed at least partly integral with the flexible control board. 
     
     
         7 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 3 , wherein the transmitter is coupled with the flexible control board. 
     
     
         8 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 3 , wherein the processor is coupled with the flexible control board. 
     
     
         9 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one the transmitter and the processor is arranged on one lateral side of the tail head of the asset. 
     
     
         10 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 9 , wherein each of transmitter and the processor is arranged on one lateral side of the tail head of the asset. 
     
     
         11 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the mount detector is arranged on top of the tail head of the asset. 
     
     
         12 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible control board having thickness less than 0.02 inches. 
     
     
         13 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the tail mount housing defines a maximum thickness of less than 0.25 inches. 
     
     
         14 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is a LoRa transmitter. 
     
     
         15 . A long range livestock monitoring system for communicating breeding periods of an animal asset, the system comprising:
 a flexible tail mount housing for securing to the animal asset's tail head near the asset's hindquarters,   a mount detector coupled with the tail mount housing, the mount detector configured to sense physical effect of asset mounting and to responsively generate a mount indicator signal, and   a communications control system in communication with the mount detector, the communications control system including a processor for receiving the mount indicator signal from the mount detector and determining mounting activity based on the mount indicator signal, and a transmitter for communicating a mounting signal indicating mounting responsive to determination of mounting activity.   
     
     
         16 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 15 , further comprising a LoRa gateway configured to receive the breeding signal from the communications control system, wherein the LoRa gateway is arranged more than 1 mile from the asset having no intermediary communication device between the flexible tail mount housing and the LoRa gateway. 
     
     
         17 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 16 , wherein the LoRa gateway is configured to communicate an indication of the mounting signal with a remote server responsive to receiving the mounting signal. 
     
     
         18 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 15 , wherein the transmitter is a LoRa transmitter configured to communicate the mounting signal with a frequency within the range of 902.3 to 914.9 MHz. 
     
     
         19 . The long range livestock monitoring system of  claim 9 , wherein the tail mount housing is mounted to the asset by conforming engagement with the tail head of the asset. 
     
     
         20 . A long range livestock monitoring system for monitoring breeding periods of an animal asset, the system comprising:
 a tail patch for securing to the animal asset near the asset's hindquarters, the tail patch including a breeding detector for sensing asset mounting, a processor for communicating a mount indication signal responsive to sensing of asset mounting by the breeding detector, and communication circuitry for sending the mount indication signal according to the processor, and   an ear tag for securing to the animal asset near the asset's head, the ear tag including communication circuitry for receiving the mount indication signal from the tail patch and a transmitter for communicating a mounting signal indicating mounting activity.