A Novel Probability Function for Energy-Efficient Clustering Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of tiny sensor nodes, which are capable of sensing and processing data from inaccessible environments and communicating them to the end-user for further analysis. The main requirement of energy-constrained wireless sensor networks is to offer a long network lifetime. Thus, conceiving energyefficient protocols is a major challenge for WSNs. Energy-aware protocols therefore become crucial in designing viable WSNs that can live for a long time. We propose in this paper a novel probability function for energy-efficient clustering protocols in wireless sensor networks. The proposed probability function considers, in addition to the information about the residual energy of the nodes, the specific network topology characteristics, such as the connectivity degree, in the selection process of the cluster heads. We incorporate the proposed function in the energy-efficient HEED protocol. Simulation results show that, in addition to a considerable energy saving, the proposed probability function increases the packet delivery compared to the classical HEED.