FLBCR: Fuzzy Logic Based Clustering Routing Protocol

Wireless sensor network (WSN) comprises of multiple spatially distributed small nodes having sensors capable of accumulating information from the real world and relaying it to the base station. These nodes are configured wirelessly and run on a limited power supply. For the network to function duly, more than a certain number of nodes must be alive at any point in time. Multiple routing protocols, depending on the network architecture and application, have been designed specifically for WSNs for improving energy efficiency. Cluster-based protocols divide the system space into clusters to transmit information to the cluster head (CH) which further communicates it to the base station (BS). The aim is to reduce energy utilization and minimize system delay. In this article, FLBCR(Fuzzy Logic Based Clustering Routing) protocol has been proposed which is a routing scheme that applies fuzzy logic to find the probability of selecting a node as a CH using parameters that are variable during a network's lifetime. These parameters include the energy of individual nodes, distance of the nodes from the sink, node density, ratio of energy of a node to the average energy of all the nodes and ratio of distance of a node from the sink to the average distance of all the nodes from the sink. The final probability to select the CH is inferred using Mamdani Model. Simulations show that FLBCR surpasses the LEACH, SEP and DEEC protocols in terms of network stability, lifetime, throughput and average energy.