[Paper Review] A novel clustering algorithm for coverage a large scale in WSN

Wassim Jerbi, Abderrahmen Guermazi+1 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|May 10, 2016

Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks11 references10 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes O-LEACH, a novel clustering algorithm for large-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that addresses the issue of isolated (orphan) nodes by enabling cluster members to act as gateways, improving connectivity and coverage. By selecting energy-efficient cluster heads and ensuring all nodes remain connected, O-LEACH enhances network lifetime, scalability, and energy efficiency compared to LEACH, with simulation results confirming superior performance in connectivity rate, energy conservation, and coverage maintenance.

ABSTRACT

The applications require coverage of the whole monitored area for long periods of time. Clustering is a way to reduce communications, minimize energy consumption and organize messages among the cluster head and their members. The message exchange of communication and data transmission between the different sensor nodes must be minimized to keep and extended the lifetime of the network because of limited energy resources of the sensors. In this paper, we take into consideration the problem isolated nodes that are away from the cluster head (CH) and by consequence or CH is not within the reach from these nodes. To solve this problem, we propose O-LEACH (Orphan Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) a routing protocol that takes into account the orphan nodes. Indeed, a cluster member will be able to play the role of a gateway which allows the joining of orphan nodes. Our contribution is to election a cluster head that has enough energy for a better now to coordinate with these member nodes and maintain the full coverage for applications which requires of useful data for the entire area to be covered. The simulation results show that O-LEACH performs better than LEACH in terms of connectivity rate, energy, scalability and coverage.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the problem of isolated nodes in large-scale WSNs that are out of communication range of their cluster heads.
• To enhance network connectivity and full-area coverage in energy-constrained WSNs over extended operational periods.
• To improve energy efficiency and scalability in clustering-based WSN routing protocols.
• To extend the network lifetime by selecting high-energy cluster heads and enabling intermediate nodes to act as gateways for orphaned nodes.

Proposed method

• Proposes O-LEACH, an enhanced version of the LEACH protocol, to handle orphan nodes in large-scale WSNs.
• Introduces a mechanism where cluster members with sufficient residual energy can act as gateways to relay data from isolated nodes.
• Uses an energy-aware cluster head election process to select nodes with higher residual energy, ensuring stable cluster coordination.
• Implements a two-hop communication model where orphan nodes connect via gateway-enabled cluster members to reach the cluster head.
• Minimizes end-to-end communication delay and energy consumption by reducing long-range transmissions.
• Employs a distributed clustering algorithm with periodic re-clustering to maintain network adaptability and coverage.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How can isolated nodes in large-scale WSNs be effectively integrated into the network without increasing energy consumption?
• RQ2 What mechanisms can improve network connectivity and full-area coverage in energy-constrained WSNs?
• RQ3 How does the selection of energy-rich cluster heads impact network lifetime and scalability?
• RQ4 To what extent does enabling cluster members as gateways enhance network performance compared to traditional LEACH?

Key findings

• O-LEACH significantly improves the network's connectivity rate by enabling orphan nodes to communicate through gateway-enabled cluster members.
• The protocol achieves better energy efficiency by reducing long-distance transmissions and balancing energy consumption across nodes.
• O-LEACH maintains full coverage of the monitored area, ensuring continuous data collection for long-term applications.
• Simulation results confirm that O-LEACH outperforms LEACH in terms of network lifetime, scalability, and energy conservation.
• The use of energy-aware cluster head selection contributes to more stable and longer-lasting clusters.
• The gateway mechanism effectively reduces the number of disconnected nodes, enhancing overall network reliability.