A Novel Energy-Efficient Weighted Multi-Level Clustering Protocol

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of a large number of sensor nodes that allow users to accurately monitor a remote environment by aggregating the data from the individual nodes. These networks require robust and energy-efficient protocols that are improved reliability and lifetime of WSNs. Clustering of sensor nodes is an emerging paradigm for the energy-efficient approach to improve lifetime and the reliability of WSN by reducing energy consumption. In this paper, a new Energy-efficient weighted multi-level Clustering Protocol (EWCP) is proposed. Cluster heads (CHs) are selected based on the allotted weight to each sensor nodes. The weight includes the parameters of sensors such as density, residual energy, and distance to prolong the network's lifetime and increase its efficiency. Also, the cluster members are selected based on their distance to the selected CHs. The lifetime of EWCP is improved significantly to compare with the other protocols. This improvement is attributed to the fact that EWCP is energy-efficient in clustering protocol.