An Energy-Efficient Cluster Head Selection Scheme for Energy-Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks

Area of Science:

• Wireless Sensor Networks
• Energy Harvesting Technologies
• Network Protocols

Background:

• Energy consumption during cluster head selection is a major challenge in energy-harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs).
• Unequal distribution and utilization of harvested energy among nodes further degrade network performance.
• Existing schemes often incur significant energy overhead for cluster head selection and energy management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an energy-efficient cluster head selection scheme (EECHS) for EH-WSNs.
• To reduce energy consumption associated with the cluster head selection process.
• To enhance the efficient utilization of harvested energy among network nodes.

Main Methods:

• Nodes are categorized into cluster heads (CH), cluster members (CM), and scheduling nodes (SN).
• Scheduling nodes (SNs) monitor and store real-time residual energy information of all nodes within a cluster.
• SNs dynamically select the new CH, migrating the selection task from CHs and preserving their energy for data forwarding.
• Transmission radius of certain nodes is dynamically adjusted to prevent discarding excess harvested energy.

Main Results:

• The proposed EECHS scheme significantly reduces energy consumption during the cluster head selection phase.
• EECHS demonstrates improved efficiency in utilizing harvested energy compared to existing methods.
• Experimental results validate the effectiveness of EECHS in enhancing network performance for EH-WSNs.

Conclusions:

• EECHS offers an effective solution for energy-efficient cluster head selection in EH-WSNs.
• The scheme optimizes energy management by reallocating the cluster head selection task and dynamically adjusting transmission radii.
• EECHS contributes to prolonging the operational lifetime of EH-WSNs through better energy conservation and utilization.