DHCFL: Dual Head Clustering Based On Fuzzy Logic for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are constructed by interconnecting miniature sensor nodes for monitoring the environment uninterrupted. These miniature nodes are having the sensing, processing and communication capability in a smaller scale powered by a battery unit. Proper energy conservation is required for the entire system. Clustering mechanism in WSN advances the lifetime and stability in the network. It achieves data aggregation and reduces the number of data transmission to the Base station (BS). But the Cluster Head (CH) nodes are affected by rapid energy depletion problem due to overload. A CH node spends its energy for receiving data from its member nodes, aggregation and transmission to the BS. In CH election, multiple overlapping factors makes it difficult and inefficient which costs the lifetime of the network. In recent years, Fuzzy Logic is widely used for CH election mechanism for WSN. But the underlying problem of the CHs node continues. In this research work, a new clustering algorithm DHCFL is proposed which elects two CHs for a cluster which shares the load of a conventional CH node. Data reception and aggregation will be done by CH aggregator (CH-A) node and data transmission to the BS will be carried over by CH relay (CH-R) node. Both CH-A and CH-R nodes are elected through fuzzy logic which addresses the uncertainty in the network too. The proposed algorithm DHCFL is compared and tested in different network scenarios with existing clustering algorithms and it is observed that DHCFL outperforms other algorithms in all the network scenarios.