Constructing Optimal Clustering Architecture for Maximizing Lifetime in Large Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

In large scale wireless sensor networks, clustering is an effective technique for the purpose of improving the utilization of limited energy and prolonging the network lifetime. However, the problem of unbalanced energy dissipation exists in the multi-hop clustering model, where the cluster heads closer to the sink have to relay heavier traffic and consume more energy than farther nodes. Unequal clustering has proved to be able to achieve more uniform energy dissipation among cluster heads; however, how to quantify the size for the aim of scalability is a challenging problem. In this paper, we investigate the theoretical aspects of the unequal clustering strategy for minimizing and balancing the energy consumption of cluster heads in large uniform distributed sensor networks. Based on the proposed optimal clustering architecture, we design simple energy-aware head rotation and routing protocols to further balance the energy consumption among all nodes. Extensive simulations show that the proposed architecture can maximize the network lifetime defined from different aspects, and therefore, are suitable for the design and deployment of large scale sensor networks.