Reliable multihop intra-cluster communication for Wireless Sensor Networks

Clustering is a promising approach to extending the lifetime of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Currently research does not consider communication reliability as an objective when designing a clustering algorithm. In addition, limited studies have been undertaken in multihop intra-cluster routing. In this paper, an intra-cluster routing algorithm (RINtraR) enabling high quality multihop communication between sensors is introduced. Through simulation, it is shown that the intra-cluster routing policy significantly affects the performance of a WSN. A comparison between RINtraR adapted LEACH and the original LEACH algorithm is provided. Results show better transmission reliability compared with LEACH. Furthermore, RINtraR converges well and can be adapted to many existing clustering algorithms.