A Combined Dual Leader and Relay Node Selection for Markov Cluster Based WSN Routing Protocol

Abstract

The major challenge in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is to increase the node’s lifespan and decrease energy utilization. To avoid this issue, many Clustering Routing Protocols (CRPs) have been developed, where Cluster Head (CH) in each cluster accumulates the data from each other node and transfers it to the sink through Relay Nodes (RNs). But both CHs and RNs dissipate more energy to aggregate and transfer data. As a result, it is vital to choose the appropriate CHs and RNs concurrently to reduce energy utilization. Hence, this article proposes a Weighted Markov Clustering with Dual Leader and Relay node Selection based CRP (WMCL-DLRS-CRP) in WSNs. This protocol aims to lessen energy dissipation during inter- and intra-cluster communication. Initially, a Markov Clustering (MCL) algorithm is applied by the sink to create nodes into clusters based on a threshold distance. Then, a dual leader selection scheme is proposed to elect dual CHs in each cluster according to the node weighting factor that considers the node’s remaining energy, the distance between CHs and sink, the distance among all nodes, and abundance. Also, an RN selection scheme is proposed to choose the appropriate RNs based on a new Predicted Transmission Rate (PTR) factor. Moreover, the elected RNs transfer the data from the CHs to the sink, resulting in a tradeoff between the node’s energy utilization and lifetime. At last, extensive simulations illustrate that the WMCL-DLRS-CRP achieves better network performance compared to the existing protocols.