An Energy Efficient Clustering Algorithm Based on Annulus Division Applied in Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy efficiency and energy balance are two important performance indexes in wireless sensor networks which determine the lifetime of networks. This paper proposes a protocol, termed as annulus division based energy-efficiency clustering protocol (ADEC), in which the monitor area is divided into several annuluses with different width. By considering the distance between sensor nodes and the base station, sensor nodes are firstly classified into different levels. Then, cluster heads selection and clusters formation are conducted independently in each annulus. Moreover, data transmission pathes are established among annuluses, and a strategy of cluster heads rotation and cluster adjustment is proposed. A key feature of this proposed algorithm is that the clustering is conducted in each annulus independently, such that a large amount of energy can be saved. Finally, the simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of ADEC in terms of energy efficiency and energy balance.