Energy efficient grid clustering based data aggregation in Wireless Sensor Networks

A Wireless Sensor Network consists of a cluster of sensor nodes connected by a wireless medium to carry out distributed sensing tasks. The resources in these nodes are restricted in terms of processing, storage, and energy supplies. As the sensor nodes rely on low power batteries for their life, energy efficiency is utmost importance for the majority of its applications. Agriculture is one of the biggest industries where the cost-effective wireless sensor technology is effectively applied to support its functions. Clustering is one of the ways to achieve energy efficiency in such networks. In clustered network, few nodes play the role of cluster heads, summative the data from their members, and pass on them to the sink for further processing. In this work, a distance based grid clustering approach (DC) is proposed that considers energy efficiency as a system-wide problem to focuses on enhancing the overall stability of operation of a network. In addition, two other approaches for cluster head selection based on the node with largest id (LC) and the node with the smallest id (SC) within the cluster is also implemented. The proposed approach gives better performance than the other two other approaches implemented.