VCA: An Energy-Efficient Voting-Based Clustering Algorithm for Sensor Networks

Clustering provides an effective mechanism for energy-efficient data delivery inwireless sensor networks. To reduce communication cost, most clustering algorithms rely on asensor’s local properties in electing cluster heads. They often result in unsatisfactory clusterformations, which may cause the network to suffer from load imbalance or extra energyconsumption. In this paper, we propose a novel Voting-based Clustering Algorithm (VCA) forenergy-efficient data dissemination in wireless sensor networks. This new approach lets sensorsvote for their neighbors to elect suitable cluster heads. VCA is completely distributed, locationunawareand independent of network size and topology. It combines load balancing, energy andtopology information together by using very simple voting mechanisms. Simulation resultsshow that VCA can reduce the number of clusters by 5-25% and prolong the lifetime of asensor network by 10-30% over that of existing energy-efficient clustering protocols