Application-oriented Re-Clustering and Cluster Head Re-Election scheme for Wireless Sensor Networks

In hierarchical Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), the Cluster Head (CH) election criterion is critical for the optimum network usage and longevity. With a well-defined criterion, a highly connected topology is formed which is well suited to the requirements of a certain application. A pre-emptive choice of a single and permanent criterion becomes inflexible for those WSNs that are connected to web portals, and which execute applications dynamically as and when solicited by the portal customers. CH formed through such a criterion might never meet applications' specific requirements in terms of execution time, reliability, resource availability and delay bounds. In this paper, we present multi-criteria based clustering and CH election mechanism for multiple applications. We propose two models i.e. CH Re-Election and Re-Clustering. In former CH re-election is initiated when CH fails to satisfy constraints of an application and in latter clustering is done on the basis of application requirements.