SCHS: Smart Cluster Head Selection Scheme for Clustering Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Networks

Vipin Pal, Girdhari Singh, Rajender Prasad Yadav

Computer Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India.
Electronics and Communication Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India.
Vice-Chancellor, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota, India.

DOI: 10.4236/wsn.2012.411039                

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks are energy constraint networks. Energy efficiency, to prolong the network for a longer time is critical issue for wireless sensor network protocols. Clustering protocols are energy efficient approaches to extend the lifetime of network. Intra-cluster communication is the main driving factor for energy efficiency of clustering protocols. Intra-cluster energy consumption depends upon the position of cluster head in the cluster. Wrongly positioned clusters head make cluster more energy consuming. In this paper, a simple and efficient cluster head selection scheme is proposed, named Smart Cluster Head Selection (SCHS). It can be implemented with any distributed clustering approach. In SCHS, the area is divided into two parts: border area and inner area. Only inner area nodes are eligible for cluster head role. SCHS reduces the intra-cluster communication distance hence improves the energy efficiency of cluster. The simulation results show that SCHS has significant improvement over LEACH in terms of lifetime of network and data units gathered at base station.

Keywords

Wireless Sensor Network; Clustering; Energy Efficiency; Intra-Cluster Communication

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	N. A. Pantazis and D. D. Vergados, “A Survey on Power Control Issues in Wireless Sensor Networks,” IEEE Communication Surveys, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2007, pp. 86-107. doi:10.1109/COMST.2007.4444752
[2]	A. Arora, P. Dutta, S. Bapat, V. Kulathumani, H. Zhang, V. Naik, V. Mittal, H. Cao, M. Demirbas, M. Gouda, Y. Choi, T. Herman, S. Kulkarni, U. Arumugam, M. Neste- renko, A. Vora, and M. Miyashita, “A Line in the Sand: A Wireless Sensor Network for Target Detection, Classification, and Tracking,” Computer Network, Vol. 46, No. 5, 2004, pp. 605-634. doi:10.1016/j.comnet.2004.06.007
[3]	H. Karl and A. Willig, “Protocols and Architectures for Wireless Sensor Networks,” John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2007.
[4]	A. Mainwaring, D. Culler, J. Polastre, R. Szewczyk and J. Anderson, “Wireless Sensor Networks for Habitat Monitoring,” Proceedings of the 1st ACM International Workshop on Wireless Sensor Networks and Applications, New York, 28 September 2002, pp. 88-97.
[5]	A. Flammini, P. Ferrari, D. Marioli, E. Sisinni and A. Taroni, “Wired and Wireless Sensor Networks for Industrial Applications,” Journal of Microelectron, Vol. 40, No. 9, 2009, pp. 1322-1336. doi:10.1016/j.mejo.2008.08.012
[6]	A. Milenkovi′c, C. Otto and E. Jovanov, “Wireless Sensor Networks for Personal Health Monitoring: Issues and an Implementation,” Computer Communication, Vol. 29, No. 13-14, 2006, pp. 2521-2533. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2006.02.011
[7]	I. F. Akyildiz, W. Su, Y. Sankarasubramaniam and E. Cayirci, “Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey,” Computer Networks, Vol. 38, No. 4, 2002, pp. 393-422. doi:10.1016/S1389-1286(01)00302-4
[8]	A. A. Abbasi and M. Younis, “A Survey on Clustering Algorithms for Wireless Sensor Networks,” Computer Communication, Vol. 30, No. 14-15, 2007, pp. 2826-2841. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2007.05.024
[9]	D. Wei and H. Chan, “Clustering Ad Hoc Networks: Schemes and Classifications,” Proceedings of the 3rd Annual IEEE Communications Society on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks, Reston, 28 September 2006, pp. 920-926. doi:10.1109/SAHCN.2006.288583
[10]	W. R. Heinzelman, A. Chandrakasan and H. Balakrishnan, “Energy-Efficient Communication Protocol for Wireless Microsensor Networks,” Proceedings of the 33rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Washington DC, 4-7 January 2000, pp. 1-10. doi:10.1109/HICSS.2000.926982
[11]	C.-J. Jiang, W.-R. Shi, M. Xiang and X.-L. Tang, “Energy-Balanced Unequal Clustering Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks,” Journal of China Universities of Posts and Telecommunications, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2010, pp. 94-99.
[12]	F. Bajaber and I. Awan, “Adaptive Decentralized Reclustering Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks,” Journal of Computer System Science, Vol. 77, No. 2, 2011, pp. 282-292. doi:10.1016/j.jcss.2010.01.007
[13]	Q. Li, Q. X. Zhu and M. W. Wang, “Design of a Distributed Energy Efficient Clustering Algorithm for Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks,” Computer Communications, Vol. 29, No. 12, 2006, pp. 2230-2237. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2006.02.017
[14]	D. Kumar, T. C. Aseri and R. B. Patel, “EEHC: Energy Efficient Heterogeneous Clustered Scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks,” Computer Communications, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2009, pp. 662-667. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2008.11.025
[15]	K. Fall and K. Vardhan, “The Network Simulator NS-2”. http:// www.isi.edu/nsnam/ns/
[16]	D. C. Chinh, R. Kumar and S. K. Panda, “Optimal Data Aggregation Tree in Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Intelligent Water Drops Algorithm,” IET Wireless Sensor System, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2012, pp. 282-292. doi:10.1049/iet-wss.2011.0146
[17]	M. Liu, J. Cao, G. Chen and X. Wang, “An Energy-Aware Routing Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks,” Sensors, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2009, pp. 445-462. doi:10.3390/s90100445