Adaptive Clustering for Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Ant Colony Optimization

Energy supply in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is limited and non-replenishable, and energy efficiency is the most important feature in designing these networks. One way to reduce the energy consumption of WSNs and hence prolong the lifespan of these networks is to use adaptive clustering algorithms. In this paper, we use Ant Colony Optimization for Clustering (ACO-C) to propose a new energy aware clustering protocol for WSNs. By using appropriate cost functions, implemented at the base station, our algorithm minimizes and distributes the cost of long distance transmissions and data aggregating among all sensor nodes evenly. Simulation results show the effectiveness of our protocol over other well known clustering algorithms in terms of both network lifetime and data delivery to the base station.