Multi-level LEACH protocol model using NS-3

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of a large number of tiny devices called sensor nodes, which are usually deployed randomly over a wide area in order to sense and monitor various physical phenomena related parameters including environmental conditions at various locations. The WSN nodes communicate with each other. WSN devices have various resource constraints such as less memory, low clock speed, finite battery energy, and limited computational power. It may not be feasible to replace the batteries in the WSN nodes. As all the nodes are battery operated it is necessary to conserve the limited battery energy so that the lifetime of the network can be extended. Network lifetime, energy efficiency, load balancing and more over scalability are some key requirements of WSN applications. This work presents a multi level hierarchical routing protocol, which is based on the LEACH protocol. This protocol improves both the energy efficiency and the lifetime of the network. Two-level LEACH (TL-LEACH), Three-level LEACH (3L-LEACH) and Four-level LEACH (4L-LEACH) have been presented. NS-3 simulation platform has been used to carry out performance analysis of these hierarchical routing protocols. The performance analysis shows that the hierarchical routing protocols, TL-LEACH, 3L-LEACH and 4L-LEACH fare better than the LEACH protocol.