An efficient clustering scheme for large and dense mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)

Large and dense MANETs often face scalability problem and need to achieve performance guarantee with the help of a hierarchical structure, typically a cluster control structure. In this paper, an efficient clustering scheme (ECS) is proposed for large and dense MANETs. Mechanisms for cluster formation and cluster maintenance are described and studied in detail. ECS can eliminate the frozen period requirement for cluster formation, reduce cluster overlapping and prolongs the cluster lifetime without producing excessive clustering overheads. The performance of ECS is compared with random competition-based clustering (RCC) and a modified version of highest connectivity clustering (HCC) in terms of clustering overheads, clusterhead lifetime, cluster number and cluster size. Simulation results show that ECS successfully achieves its targets at reducing the cluster overlapping, maintaining a stable cluster structure as well as producing moderate clustering overheads.