Energy-efficient wireless sensor networks using unequal clustering and cluster head rotation optimization

Abstract The energy hole problem is a significant challenge in wireless sensor networks (WSN) that use multi-hop routing protocols. Nodes near the base station (BS) typically experience higher energy consumption due to higher data traffic, resulting in faster network energy depletion and creating an energy hole near the BS. To address this issue, the paper proposes a solution involving a mobile data collector (MDC) in an unequal grid cluster. The number and size of the clusters are determined based on the radio energy model’s threshold transmission value, which provides balanced data traffic distribution in the network. The cluster head (CH) is elected based on the node’s distance from the cluster centroid and its residual energy. Additionally, the frequency of CH rotation is optimized through an energy-efficient CH change mechanism. The inclusion of an MDC enables data collection from the CHs along the vertical boundaries, effectively reducing the occurrence of energy holes and extending the network’s overall lifespan. Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of our protocol compared to similar existing schemes. Our proposed work was simulated using OMNeT++, and the results indicate that it achieves approximately 21% less energy consumption than similar existing works.