An Application of Firefly Algorithm for Clustering in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor network gained popularity during the past few decades due to the ad hoc nature, which makes it easy to install in a landscape where human may not be able to approach. Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is considered for networks consisting of many tiny sensor devices running on batteries. This type of wireless sensor networks are deployed to fulfil a specific objective for a long period of time, hence the energy consumed in communication should be optimized to prolong the network. This paper presents the energy optimization method using Firefly algorithm to prolong network lifetime. Firefly algorithm is a nature inspired optimization technique that is based on the behaviour of an insect known as “Firefly” that produces the flashing light mainly to attract the pray and to attract the mating partner. The proposed algorithm for effective communication is compared with LEACH and ABC (Artificial Bee Colony) optimization for cluster-based sensor network and the simulated result shows the better performance.