A Comprehensive Study on Various Energy Conservation Mechanisms in Wireless Sensor Networks

Research conversation about Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) has been creating a buzz in the network universe for quite some time now. Over the years, this exploratory research has found its applications in a variety of domains. Sensor nodes equipped with inadequate power, processing capability, storage, and energy are deployed in remote areas that remain unattended by humans. As a result, energy conservation of nodes is a challenging parameter that affects the lifespan of the node resulting in network degradation. In this paper, the challenges of sensor nodes, their actions causing energy wastage are studied in detail. Further, this paper presents a comparative study on cluster-based protocols being utilized to conserve node's energy. The review discovered various mechanisms for energy conservation with respect to the power component. Comparative analyses of various node metrics are graphically depicted. Although, many strategies improve energy conservation, but it was observed via this survey that these strategies might also negatively impact other important factors in overall network.