Extending Network Lifetime under Constraints for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

In this thesis a Multilevel Minimized Delay Clustering Protocol (MMDCP) is proposed. MMDCP is proved to extend the lifetime of wireless sensor networks through leveling and through a better choice of cluster heads. The proposed algorithm assigns the number of the lower level cluster heads and the leaf nodes in the network so as to minimize the end-to-end delay. When comparing MMDCP to the well known LEACH-C protocol, MMDCP succeeds in extending the lifetime of the network more than LEACH-C and in minimizing the end-to-end delay of the data sending less than LEACH-C. MMDCP also shows significant increase in throughput values more than LEACH-C. In comparison to the recently proposed protocol THCHP which has competitive lifetime and delay optimizations, MMDCP shows significant minimization in end-to-end delay in high and medium density networks. Furthermore, it succeeds in extending the network lifetime more than THCHP in low density networks, whilst in throughput values MMDCP shows a noticeable increase more than THCHP. Also, MMDCP is compared to another recently proposed protocol, Delay-Aware, where it succeeds to show significant improvements in structure and results of lifetime, end-to-end delay and throughput as the network scales. The delay results are also compared in details of all delay sources including queuing, transmission and processing. Two radio models are used to evaluate MMDCP protocol performance, the First Order Radio Model and the Discrete Radio Model which is a realistic model with real mote specifications. The obtained results are proved analytically and via simulation. This significant minimization in delay makes the proposed protocol a very good candidate for use in crises management applications like pre-expectation of landslides and early control of slum fires.