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Energy-aware Clustering with Variable Ranges in Wireless Sensor Networks

Authors:
Faruk Bagci

Keywords: Wireless sensor network; cluster architecture; energy efficiency; connectivity; wireless communication

Abstract:
Traditional wireless devices communicate directly with a beacon or base station located in range of the device. Multi-hop messages are still a rarity in wireless communication. Wireless sensor network protocols often are based on peer-to-peer infrastructure, where messages traverse long distances through the network to reach a certain destination. A flat infrastructure is hard to manage regarding routing and scalability, if number of nodes increase drastically. Because of battery operated nodes, energy-effective mechanisms are very important in wireless sensor networks. Clustering brings hierarchy into the network and can save energy since nodes within a cluster usually communicate locally in a short range. Messages sent to large distances are handled by cluster-heads routing them through an inter-cluster backbone. A heterogeneous infrastructure with a large number of simple and cheap sensor nodes and only a small percentage of more powerful cluster-heads is beneficial but not necessary. This paper presents a new clustering approach called Variable Ranges Protocol that provides basic features to modify the range of each node. A dynamic transmission range adaption protocol substantially prolongs the lifetime of the nodes through energy efficient communication without significantly decreasing the node connectivity. The VR protocol is implemented combining several MAC protocols for local communication within a cluster.

Pages: 233 to 238

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2011

Publication date: August 21, 2011

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4405

ISBN: 978-1-61208-144-1

Location: Nice/Saint Laurent du Var, France

Dates: from August 21, 2011 to August 27, 2011