A Cluster Head Selection Algorithm Adopting Sensing-Awareness and Sensor Density for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Due to the limited resources of sensor nodes, an energyefficient routing algorithm of Wireless Sensor Networks is considered as one of the most important issues in improving network lifetime. To resolve this issue, several routing algorithms have been suggested, but the published studies have mainly focused on minimizing distances between sensor nodes or the number of hops. These researches have also assumed that all the sensor nodes participate in the sensing task. In this paper, we propose a new cluster head selection algorithm focusing on both the density of sensor nodes and sensing-awareness that has not been considered yet in other existing researches on cluster-based routing scheme. In the real sensor network environment, only a part of sensor nodes participates in data reporting, so consideration of sensing-awareness in a routing algorithm will have effect on network efficiency. Moreover, the density of sensor nodes that has resulted from geographical location of sensor nodes can be an important factor in cluster head selection. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm, by considering these 2 factors simultaneously, reduces energy consumption and enhances network lifetime.