Performance enhancement in Wireless Sensor Network clustering

In Wireless Sensor Networks with a clustered-hierarchical structure, Cluster-Head (CH) nodes function as gateways between the sensors and the Base Station (BS). The energy dissipation of the sensors can be reduced by optimizing the load balance within the clustering hierarchy. This paper proposes a three-layer clustering scheme in which the system lifetime is extended by adding an additional layer of Super-Cluster Head (SCH) nodes between the CHs and the BS, in order to ease the transmission load of the CHs and to balance the load distribution. The SCH layer is configured using a facility location algorithm. The simulation results confirm that the facility location algorithm yields a better load balance in the SCH layer than that obtained using either a random configuration or a round-robin scheme. Finally, it is shown that irrespective of the size of the sensor field, the proposed three-layer clustering hierarchy scheme outperforms the conventional LEACH-C two-layer scheme in terms of the average energy dissipation of the nodes and the average survival times of the nodes.