Cluster‐based data transmission scheme in wireless sensor networks using black hole and ant colony algorithms

Abstract

SummarySince sensor nodes use limited battery power, sensor nodes power is considered to be a challenge and fundamental issue in wireless networks. Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have recently used clustering‐based methods and different routing protocols in clusters which are full of sensor nodes. In this way, cluster heads (CHs), which are regarded as the selected nodes among other nodes within a given cluster, accumulate the information transmitted from their own cluster and send it to the sink. In this method, they try to control power consumption in a balanced way. In clustering method and routing among network nodes, network lifetime is enhanced which leads to achieving the best efficiency and productivity. In this paper, the optimized black hole algorithm is employed to select an optimal CH from sensor nodes. The CH selection is optimized by the free buffer of nodes, residual energy, and distance. The path between source CH and sink is identified by using ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. The combination of black hole algorithm and ant colony algorithm, with respect to clustering and routing, leads to the optimization of the proposed method in terms of operational criteria such as power consumption and eventually lifetime enhancement. The results obtained from simulating the proposed method in Matlab environment indicated that it has better results in comparison with other methods. The outputs of the obtained results from the proposed method indicated that it outperformed the other four comparative methods in terms of packet delivery rate and the number of transmitted packets to the CH and to the sink.