Title: Efficient cluster head selection method to improve the lifetime in wireless sensor networks

Authors: Omar Fouad Mohammed; Burairah Hussin; Abd Samad Hasan Basari

Addresses: Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia ' Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia ' Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Malaysia, Hang Tuah Jaya, 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia

Abstract: In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), environmental event monitoring and tracking systems require efficient routing protocols in order to offer reliable controlling of data traffic. This could help in an efficient utilisation of knowledge obtained from data to provide proper decision under abnormal environment conditions. The efficiency and reliability are the main challenges of routing data in WSNs. LEACH routing protocol is found to provide better performance compared to other protocols due to its hierarchical nature. However, since LEACH is a single-hop protocol, sensors located far from the base station (BS) consume more energy for data transmission and die early, causing a serious reduction in the network performance in terms of lifetime. Moreover, it cannot ensure that sensors have a uniform distribution in the sensing area. In this paper, an improved version of LEACH is presented based on node energy, distance, density, and the use of gravity centre and mass centre for selecting cluster heads (CHs). Simulation results show that the enhanced version is able to improve the network lifetime in comparison with the traditional LEACH protocol. The results confirmed that the proposed enhancement provides a proper decision in selecting CHs in high density areas.

Keywords: wireless sensor networks; WSNs; routing protocols; low-energy adaptation clustering hierarchy; LEACH; data traffic control; event tracking; network lifetime.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2017.083545

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2017 Vol.17 No.1, pp.17 - 31

Received: 31 Jul 2015
Accepted: 22 Feb 2016

Published online: 10 Apr 2017 *

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