Cluster-Head Selection Algorithm to Enhance Energy-Efficiency and Reliability of Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are made up of small energy-constrained sensor nodes. In our study, the network is sub-divided into groups of sensor nodes called clusters, and the nodes in same cluster send data to its own cluster-head called Gateway. Major issue is raised to be the Gateway unavailability due to energy depletion or hard-failure, because the Sink losses the communication with the whole cluster. This paper presents a novel cluster-head selection approach to extend network lifetime and reliability by taking obstacle-aware criteria into consideration. This approach allows selecting the most appropriate sensor node to become cluster head. Simulation results show significant results by reducing 93% the number of lost packets in the network, hence improving the network throughput up to 53%. Additionally, our solution extends the network lifetime to 11%.