Performance Improvement of Passive Clustering Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Routing protocols in sensor networks usually require the use of messages flooding. This process is very costly in term of energy consumption. For unattended sensor networks (often composed of battery-powered nodes) energy consumption is an important metric since it maps directly to network operational lifetime. In this paper, we examine an on demand cluster algorithm called passive clustering algorithm. This algorithm when combined with a routing paradigm in sensor networks provides substantial advantages in the form of reduced dissipated energy, lower delay and better delivery ratio. We present some improvements to this algorithm to make it more efficient and provide better network lifetime. We also present computer simulation results, which compare the solutions under varying conditions of network traffic and topology. The results show significant increase in network lifetime.