An adaptive clustering routing algorithm for energy harvesting-wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In order to address the influence caused by unstable and uneven harvested energy among sensor nodes for clustering routing in energy harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs), a novel clustering routing algorithm (CREW) is proposed in this work. The CREW is composed by cluster building phase and data transmission phase. In cluster building phase, the CREW uses two new concepts, Network Gradient and Waiting Time for cluster head Competition, to divide the network into unequal clusters and select the cluster heads based on residual energy and energy gain of nodes, respectively. In data transmission phase, it adopts an adaptive inter-cluster communication mechanism, to sufficiently store and utilize the harvesting energy. Finally, to verify the effectiveness of the proposed CREW, a series of experiments are conducted and compared with other related clustering routings for the EH-WSNs. Simulation results manifest that the CREW can provide effective clustering routing for the EH-WSNs and highlight the better performance of the proposed approach than that of similar techniques.