A dynamic cluster head election protocol for mobile wireless sensor networks

A dynamic cluster head election protocol (DCHEP) is proposed in this work to improve network availability and energy efficiency for mobile wireless sensor networks (WSNs) under the beacon-enabled IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The proposed protocol (DCHEP) is developed and simulated using CASTALIA/OMNET++ with a realistic radio model and node behaviour. DCHEP improves the network availability and lifetime and maintains clusters hierarchy in a proactive manner even in a mobile WSN where all the nodes including cluster heads (CHs) are mobile, this is done by dynamically switching CHs allowing nodes to act as multiple backup cluster heads (BCHs) with different priorities based on their residual energy and connectivity to other clusters. DCHEP is a flexible and scalable solution targeted for dense WSNs with random mobility. The proposed protocol achieves an average of 33% and 26% improvement to the availability and energy efficiency respectively compared with the original standard.