AN EXTENDED LOW ENERGY ADAPTIVE CLUSTERING HIERARCHY PROTOCOL FOR EFFICIENT ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Abstract

Sensor networks are a developing technology that is causing significant changes in how data is collected, processed, and disseminated in a variety of settings and applications. Sensor networks have a large number of small sensor nodes that work independently and, in many circumstances, have insufficient resources such as processing, storage, and battery, which limits the node's life span. Energy efficiency is one of the most challenging issues in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), and numerous WSN protocols to improve energy efficiency, such as TEEN, HEED, DD, SEP, and LEACH, have been developed throughout the years in an attempt to extend the lifetime of WSNs. However, these protocols are still inadequate concerning energy usage. The aim of the research was to improve the LEACH protocol to perform node management and to improve its Cluster Head Selection Algorithm (CSA). When the lifespan of the Sensor Network is boosted, it reduces the cost of constant battery replacement, it will also improve the performance of Sensor Networks by removing the issue of unnecessary data transmission to Cluster heads by sensor nodes and also reduce extra duties of cluster heads. This study seeks to analyze the requirements for extending the LEACH protocol, and design, implement, and validate the extended protocol. This study has proposed an extended K-Means Cluster Head Selection algorithm to curb the issue of energy wastage and extend the lifespan of WSNs. To evaluate the Extended K-Means Means Cluster Head Selection algorithm the study used various performance metrics which includes, the number of live nodes, number of dead nodes, packet delivery ratio, residual energy, throughput, and number of cluster head formed per round. An Extended Low Energy Adaptive clustering(X￾LEACH) routing protocol was developed to mitigate the issues with traditional protocol and improve the lifespan of WSNs. The X-LEACH protocol integrates the designed extended K-Means cluster head selection algorithm (EKCHS). The study used a positivism research philosophy and research design methodology, where in objective one the study used a a systematic literature review and online desktop research. To achieve objectives two, three, and four the study used an experimental research design. The proposed protocol was simulated in a network of one hundred (100) nodes and one base station in the Mat lab simulator. The data was analyzed, and evaluated and output graphs were generated using the Mat lab simulator. The output graphs that were plotted were based on six network performance metrics. To validate the proposed X-LEACH routing protocol, its performance in terms of energy efficiency was compared to LEACH and SEP used as the benchmark techniques. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol had the lowest number of dead nodes (75 nodes), the highest number of live node (25 nodes), the highest total remaining energy (2 joules), the highest total delivery ratio (17*104 total packets sent to cluster head), highest throughput (1.7*105 throughput) and the number of cluster head formed per round was uniform (10 clusters per pound) at the end of the simulation. Therefore, the X-LEACH routing protocol is superior to benchmark techniques.