Optimization of Energy Heterogeneous Cluster-Head Selection in Farmland WSN

Power consumption is a key point of WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) lifespan. Because of difference among monitoring objects and complex signal channel condition, the power consumption of each node in farmland WSN is uneven, which makes the network performing as multi-level energy heterogeneous. LEACH and its improving algorithms average the power consumption between nodes by clustering and cluster-head switching. But the cluster-head voting brings a lot extra power consumption. To solve this problem, this paper proposes EACHS (Energy Approximation Cluster-Head Selection), an optimized cluster-head selection mechanism that approximates the energy of cluster-head targeting the lowest energy level in the network. When approaching the target, the current cluster-head collects the energy status of all nodes and determines which one becoming the new cluster-head. The simulation results show that, EACHS can balance the network power consumption and reduce most protocol cost, prolong the overall network lifespan.