MWSNs are much more versatile than static sensor networks as they can be deployed in any scenario and cope with rapid topology changes.
Commonly, the nodes consist of a radio transceiver and a microcontroller powered by a battery, as well as some kind of sensor for detecting light, heat, humidity, temperature, etc.
The varying topology of the network comes from the mobility of nodes, which means that multihop paths from the sensors to the sink are not stable.
Hybrid topology management schemes include the Cluster Independent Data Collection Tree (CIDT).
[3] and the Velocity Energy-efficient and Link-aware Cluster-Tree (VELCT);[4] both have been proposed for mobile wireless sensor networks (MWSNs).
Generally these routing protocols draw inspiration from two fields; WSNs and mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs).
WSN routing protocols provide the required functionality but cannot handle the high frequency of topology changes.
Another popular routing technique is to utilise location information from a GPS module attached to the nodes.
The decision of whether to forward a packet or not is made using a network-wide gradient metric, such that the values of the transmitting and receiving nodes are compared to determine which is closer to the sink.
Whereas, LASeR relies on taking advantage of geographical location information that is already present on the mobile sensor node, which is likely the case in many applications.
Animals can have sensors attached to them in order to track their movements for migration patterns, feeding habits or other research purposes.