Comparative Study of Optimal Clustering Techniques in Wireless Sensor Network: A Survey

Abstract

Energy consumption affects Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) lifetime and may cause network degradation. Communication distance between the sensor nodes and base station affects network energy. The more communication distance between two nodes the more energy consumed. Clustering technique is used to reduce the energy consumption in the wireless data transmission. To develop an energy-efficient system using clustering, there are three requirements. First, to determine the optimum number of sensor nodes in a specific cluster, Second, to find the optimal number of clusters in the network and the third is to determine the correct position of Cluster Head (CH) in a particular cluster. Selecting an optimal number of clusters in WSNs gives greater improvement in system scalability, increases energy efficiency, and enhances network lifetime, in the network. For a large WSN lifetime of network depends on the cluster diameter and number of hops. The energy cost of network is directly proportional to the number of clusters. Clustering technique balances the load distribution in network and reduces traffic transmission.