Energy efficient dynamic cluster algorithm for ad hoc sensor networks

Abstract

An important issue in ad hoc sensor networks is the limited energy supply within network nodes. Therefore, power consumption is crucial in the routing design. Cluster schemes are efficient in energy saving. This paper proposes a new algorithm called dynamic cluster in which energy in the entire network is distributed and unique route from the source to the destination is designed. In this algorithm, energy efficiency is distributed and improved by (1) optimizing the selection of clusterheads in which both residual energy of the nodes and total power consumption of the cluster are considered; (2) optimizing the number of nodes in the clusters according to the size of the networks and the total power consumption of the cluster; (3) rotating the roles of clusterheads to average the power consumption among clusterheads and normal nodes; and (4) breaking the clusters and reforming them to compensate the difference of the power consumption in different area. Energy efficiency is also improved by defining a unique route to reduce flooding in route discovery and to avoid duplicate data transmission by multiple routes.