Quantitative analysis of cluster-head selection for wireless sensor networks

The problem of power consumption in sensor data collection in a wireless sensor network (WSN) is considered in this paper. Since sensor nodes operate on batteries, power efficiency is a key issue in designing the network. The geographic deployment of sensor nodes is random, with an irregular network topology. In the existing clustering-based protocols for the WSN, the cluster-heads are usually selected at random, which may result in higher power consumption and shorter network lifetime. In this paper the position of cluster-head is an important factor for the network lifetime. Based on this observation, a non-random cluster-head selection scheme based on the concept of the center of mass in physics is proposed. The purpose of the scheme is to use minimal power in the process of data collection. It is shown that the proposed scheme can save up to 50% of power consumption.