An energy-efficient cluster-head selection protocol for energy-constrained wireless sensor networks

In clustered wireless sensor networks, cluster-heads (CHs) are the key. And the CH selection methods can affect the efficiency of the cluster and even influence the lifetime of an energy-constrained network. In this paper, we propose the Energy-consumption-cycle based Cluster-heads Selection (ECHS) protocol. ECHS selects CHs via two phases. In the first phase, CH candidates are chosen based on an adaptable energy threshold and the status of neighbor nodes. In the second phase, each candidate computes its own Energy Consumption Cycles (ECC), which is relevant to the CH candidate's residual energy and the energy consumption when communicating with its neighbor nodes. The ECC actually evaluates the lifetime of the potential cluster. Hence the CH candidate with both higher residual energy and higher ECC has more possibility to be the CH. By comparing ECC, the suitable CHs can be obtained. Simulation results illustrate that ECHS protocol prolongs the network lifetime and also increases the amount of data received at BS. © 2010 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social-Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering.