An energy-efficient virtual cluster aggregation algorithm in MAC design for wireless sensor network

The MAC protocol design for wireless sensor networks has been researched and developed for decades. SMAC is a famous energy-efficient MAC. In SMAC, the boundary nodes problem brings seriously energy consumption. Because the bounder node follows multiple schedules in one cycle, it may deplete earlier and cause segmentation in sensor network. The paper proposes the virtual cluster aggregation algorithm to solve this problem. The algorithm reduces energy consumption of boundary nodes and extends the lifetime of entire sensor network by merging different virtual clusters. The simulation results show that the performance of SMAC with the virtual cluster aggregation algorithm obtains improvement.