A novel clustering algorithm for wireless sensor network based on search economics

One of the most well-known clustering methods for wireless sensor network is, no doubt, the so-called low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) because it is simple and easy to implement. Although LEACH tries to provide a fair selection mechanism by randomly selecting a number of sensors as the cluster-heads, it does not take into account the distribution of sensors, the main reason that LEACH is not able to allot transmissions to sensors efficiently, so it will make sensors far from the base station consume more energy in some cases. An efficient clustering algorithm to overcome this problem is presented in this paper. The proposed algorithm leverages the strength of a novel metaheuristics, search economics, and LEACH-centralized (LEACH-C) for wireless sensor network (WSN). Simulation results show that the search economics based clustering algorithm is capable of not only prolonging the lifetime of a WSN but also providing a balance strategy for the energy consumption of sensors in a homogeneous WSN.