An analytic approaches for the optimal clustering in multi-hop wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Since the performance of the clustering scheme is influenced by various factors such as the size or the number of clusters, good models for the clustered sensor networks are necessary to optimize these factors. Hence, determining the optimal number of clusters with the energy consumption has been one of the important issues in the clustered sensor network. Many proposed energy models present the optimal numbers of clusters; however, their accuracy is not satisfactory yet. In this paper, we investigate how to properly derive the perhop distance between the nodes in the multi-hop wireless sensor network. Then, we propose an accurate analytic energy model to derive the optimal number of clusters that minimizes the energy consumption. The simulation results based on the Monte Carlo method show that our model is not only well-matched with the energy consumption by the sensor network, but also more accurate in deriving the optimal number of clusters to maximize the network lifetime.