Performance analysis of cluster formation schemes for energy conservation in wireless sensor networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are mainly used in many applications because their flexibility, very easy to use nature, low cost and easy to deploy anywhere. WSN are limited in memory, processing capacity and battery power. So developing protocols with limited power consumption becomes very essential for applications using sensors. Clustered network architecture is most suitable for applications that require energy to be conserved at every stage. Hierarchical routing approach is considered to be the best as opposed to flat routing. This paper analyses the various clustering protocols that are widely used for preserving energy. It also compares the various cluster formation and cluster head selection techniques that contributes to energy saving. A detailed analysis of all hierarchical protocol is listed stating their benefits and limitation and the results are tabulated.