Improvement of Cluster Head Selection in LEACH for Reducing Energy Consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Sensor nodes (motes) are randomly dispersed in wireless sensor network (WSN) domains. Motes in WSNs coordinate for producing information of high quality and each scattered mote routes that information back to fixed or mobile base stations (BSs). One of the problems with sensor nodes is battery constraints that limit network lifetime, meaning mots contain limited power depending on size, battery life, and memory. Aggregation-based routing algorithm, low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH), is envisaged as a highly adequate solution to reduce power consumption. The main objective of this work is to optimize the LEACH protocol primarily in terms of power consumption. There are two reasons to explore hierarchical routing. First, sensor networks have high density and there is a large amount of redundancy in communication. The second is to increase the scalability of the sensor network by considering the security aspects of the communication. In many studies using the LEACH algorithm, the performance analysis of WSNs with the MATLAB simulator has revealed some flaws that need to be eliminated in the algorithm. The proposed research uses the improved IV-LEACH protocol to ensure an even distribution of selected cluster heads of motes over the network to increase the efficiency of the LEACH protocol. Using MATLAB, average life, energy consumption, and efficiency are analyzed to determine mots suitability for use in WSNs. The IV-LEACH protocol outperforms the LEACH protocol, improving energy consumption, lifetime and throughput in a simulated network of 150 nodes.