Research On Node-Energy Based Clustering Algorithms In Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks, as advanced technologies for informationdetecting and processing, are widely deployed in a vast variety ofenvironments. However, due to the limitations of energy storagetechnologies and the special nature of application areas, wireless sensornetworks are highly energy constrained. Thus, the primary design goal ofwireless sensor networks is the efficient use of node energy. In the currentstudy, clustering algorithm is shown to be one of the most effective waysto conserve sensor energy levels, and to extend the network lifetime.In this paper we consider two situations based on the clustering ofnetwork nodes. One is when cluster-heads communicate with the sinkdirectly, while the other is through multi-hop communication. This paperfocus on the study of how to improve the existing clustering algorithms,so as to prolong the lifetime of clustered wireless sensor networks bybalancing energy consumption levels in both situations. The main contributions made in the paper are as follows:1. In single-hop networks, a two-step cluster-head selection mechanism,which always chooses cluster-heads out from the nodes with higherresidual energy and distributes the cluster-heads more reasonable, isproposed to avoid the deficiencies of the existing mechanisms. Thenan energy-efficient clustering algorithm is proposed based on the newmechanism, and suitable cluster radius is obtained based on acomprehensive analysis of the energy consumption of the network.We design two network scenarios to evaluate the performance ofenergy-efficient clustering algorithm and the new cluster-headselection mechanism.2. In a given multi-hop network, dividing the network into severalforwarding regions and determining the width of each region properlycan efficiently balance the energy consumption levels of the network.Meanwhile, cluster-heads can determine their cluster radiusadaptively by adopting the strategy of win-stay&lose-shift to furthersave energy.3. According to the assumption of cluster numbers in each region, wepropose a new mechanism for route discovery after the analysis of thefeasibility of establishing route in cluster head selection phase.Simulation results show that the new mechanism can further saveenergy.