Hybrid Clustering and Routing Strategy with Low Overhead for Wireless Sensor Networks

Dynamic Clustering is an efficient topology management approach for sensor networks. Observing the fact that the clustering has tight relations with inter-cluster routing problem, we propose a hybrid clustering and routing protocol (HCR) that considers both the cluster head selection and routing discovery problems. Random backoff and gradient routing strategies are used to achieve our design goals with low overhead. Considering the limited transmission range bounded by the hardware, the clustered network generated by HCR is ensured to be connected. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed strategies ensure the connectivity of the network and improve the energy efficiency for data transmission.