An energy-balanced strategy for clustering protocols in wireless sensor networks

Energy is one of the most important factors in the design of routing protocols in wireless sensor networks. This paper first analyzes the energy consumption in typical clustering protocols and finds that the consumption is not evenly distributed among nodes. Thus some nodes die quickly with the reduction of the network lifetime. Then a new energy-balanced strategy is introduced in clustering protocols. The strategy assigns the head communication load to base station by detecting the energy consumption in the cluster heads. The evenly distributed energy among the nodes is realized by controlling the head consumption. Simulation results show that the lifetime of the network is significantly prolonged with the new energy-balanced strategy.