Abstract—When the data are transmitted from cluster heads to sink node via multi-hop communication, the energy hole may be arisen. In order to solve the problem, an improved unequal clustering routing protocol is proposed. During the stage of the cluster heads selection, the cluster head selection time of each node is calculated by the protocol based on such factors as the residual energy of the node, the average residual energy of neighbor nodes, and the average distance between the neighbor nodes. The protocol selects the cluster nodes by timing mode, and those unselected nodes will be joined into the nearest cluster to complete the clustering process, thereby the networks are divided into multiple clusters with different sizes. During the stage of routing establishment between clusters, the protocol builds up the minimum spanning tree based optimal transmission path according to such factors as the residual energy of cluster heads, and the distance between cluster heads. During the stage of data transmission, the ordinary nodes of a cluster send the data to cluster head by single hop, and cluster heads send the data to Sink node through the nodes of the tree by multi-hop. The simulation shows that the routing protocol can efficiently balance and reduce the energy consumption, then prolong the service time of the wireless sensor networks.


Index Terms—wireless sensor networks, energy balance, uneven clustering, minimum spanning tree.


Cite: Fu-Bao Liao and Wen-Mei Zhang, " An Improved Unequal Clustering Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks," Journal of Communications, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 148-152, 2019. Doi: 10.12720/jcm.14.2.148-152.