Reliable and energy-efficient multi-hop LEACH-based clustering protocol for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are attracting research attention because of their important applications in critical environmental monitoring and target tracking in both civilian and military fields. The large-scale deployment of energy-constrained WSNs and the need for multi-hop data aggregation requires efficient organization of network topology to simplify the routing task, balance the load, and prolong the network lifetime. Clustering has proven to be an effective approach for organizing the network into a connected hierarchy. In this study, we analyze the effectiveness of low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH) and LEACH-based protocols in extending the lifetime for energy-constrained WSNs. An improved LEACH clustering protocol called enhanced multi-hop LEACH is proposed to reduce and balance energy consumption in order to allow increased packet delivery and network lifetime in WSNs. Additionally, this paper presents the weaknesses of the LEACH protocol. First, we introduce new rules for cluster-head selection and round time computing based on the remaining energy. Second, a multi-hop communication model is integrated in the WSN using two operating processes: leveling and generic multi-hop routing.