An Energy-Efficient Clustering Algorithm Combined Game Theory and Dual-Cluster-Head Mechanism for WSNs

A novel energy-efficient clustering algorithm was proposed which aimed at improving the energy efficiency of WSNs via reducing and balancing energy consumption in this paper. The lemma concerning the dual-cluster-head mechanism which was designed to reduce the energy overhead during the process of rotation of Cluster Heads (CHs) was proposed and proven at first. In addition, a non-cooperative game model was presented with the purpose of balancing the energy consumption among the Cluster Heads. Besides, the Nash Equilibrium Point (NEP) of the game model was presented and the corresponding proof was provided. Subsequently, the Energy-efficient Clustering algorithm combined Game theory and Dual-cluster-head (ECGD) mechanism was detailed, which took the energy efficiency in both of the intra-cluster and inter-cluster communication into consideration. Finally, extensive experiments were conducted via simulation and the simulation results were compared with the existing Clustering strategies in terms of energy efficiency and network performance. The analyses of results have shown that the ECGD can improve energy efficiency and extend the network lifespan effectively.