An Improved Uneven Clustering Routing Algorithm for Sensor Networks

In the large-scale deployment of wireless sensor networks, when cluster-heads of the routing algorithm based on clustering transmit their data to sink via multi-top communication, the cluster-heads closer to sink are burdened with heavy relay traffic and tend to die early, causing energy holes that affect the normal operation of the network. It shortens the lifetime of network. To solve the problem of energy holes, an improved routing algorithm based on uneven clustering (RAUC) is proposed. Cluster-heads are elected based on the ratio between the average residual energy of neighbor nodes and itself residual energy, the intra-cluster communication cost, forming clusters of different sizes. The inter-cluster routing is based on the forwarding capacity of nodes. The simulation shows that, compared with LEACH and EEUC, the routing algorithm performs better at load balancing, reduces the energy consumption of nodes, effectively improves the lifetime of the network.