Adaptive clustering in wireless sensor networks by mining sensor energy data

Clustering has been well received as one of the effective solutions to enhance energy efficiency and scalability of large-scale wireless sensor networks. The goal of clustering is to identify a subset of nodes in a wireless sensor network, then all the other nodes communicate with the network sink via these selected nodes. However, many current clustering algorithms are tightly coupled with exact sensor locations derived through either triangulation methods or extra hardware such as GPS equipment. However, in practice, it is very difficult to know sensor location coordinates accurately due to various factors such as random deployment and low-power, low-cost sensing devices. Therefore, how to develop an adaptive clustering algorithm without relying on exact sensor location information is a very important yet challenging problem. In this paper, we try to address this problem by proposing a new adaptive clustering algorithm for energy efficiency of wireless sensor networks. Compared with other work having been done in this area, our proposed adaptive clustering algorithm is original because of its capability to infer the location information by mining wireless sensor energy data. Furthermore, based on the inferred location information and the remaining (residual) energy level of each node, the proposed clustering algorithm will dynamically change cluster heads for energy efficacy. Simulation results show that the proposed adaptive clustering algorithm is efficient and effective for energy saving in wireless sensor networks.