Impact of Node Clustering on Routing Overhead in Wireless Networks

Node clustering is an effective approach to improve scalability of network protocols in wireless communications. In this paper, we analyze the effect of the cluster structure on the average routing overhead for a wireless ad hoc network where nodes are distributed along a line. The cluster size and the overlapping range between clusters that achieve minimum routing overhead are investigated. Numerical results show that cluster structure for minimum routing overhead is highly dependent on the node density and/or the inter and intra-cluster routing methods.