A new cluster head selection scheme for long lifetime of wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Wireless sensor network (WSN) consisting of a large number of small sensors can be an effective tool for gathering information in a variety of environments. Since sensor nodes operate on batteries, energy efficiency is a key issue in designing the network. In the existing clustering-based routing protocols for the WSN including the LEACH scheme, the cluster-heads are usually selected at random, which may cause unbalanced energy consumption and thus short network lifetime. In this paper we identify that position of cluster-head is an important factor with respect to the network lifetime. Based on this observation, we propose a scheme which selects the cluster-heads not randomly but considering the relative position and residual energy of the alive nodes in the network. Computer simulation reveals that the proposed scheme extends the lifetime of the network employing the LEACH scheme for about 50%. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.