Chinese Journal of Computers   Full Text
Title	Link-Stable Clustering and Power Control for Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors	LI Fang-Min LIU Xin-Hua XU Wen-Jun HAN Ping
Address	(Hubei Key Laboratory of Broadband Wireless Communication and Sensor Network, School of Information Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070)
Year	2008
Issue	No.6(968—978)
Abstract &   Background	Abstract Reducing power consumption to extend network lifetime with limited energy resource is one of the most important challenges in wireless sensor networks. A cross-layer strategy that considers MAC layer and network layer jointly should be adopt to improve the performance of the network due to the fact that both the layers have an great effect on the energy-efficient capability of wireless sensor networks. Aiming at the disadvantages that the traditional clustering algorithms can not suit to dynamic network environments and it is hard for people to apply those algorithms in reality, a link-stable clustering algorithm (LSC) which is simple, dynamic and energy-efficient for wireless sensor networks is proposed based on cross-layer improving strategy in this paper. The algorithm can expand the network throughput and reduce the power consumption. The experimental results demonstrate that the novel cross-layer improving protocol which use clustering and power control scheme can provide longer lifetime and higher throughput than the current important protocols while keeping the network stably. Keywords wireless sensor networks; clustering algorithm; power control; cross-layer improving Background In WSNs, communication is the main factor of energy consumption. Transmission power adjustment during communication can extend the network lifetime. Some researches show that the variable transmission range scheme can improve the overall network performance. Cross-layer design is another way to improve the performance of WSNs. Since the collected sensed data must be reliably transmitted to sink, providing stable links and routings is very important for WSNs. As a very efficient routing strategy, the research of clustering algorithm is popular in WSNs. The main contribution of this paper is proposing a link-stable clustering algorithm based on cross-layer improving strategy and power control technology. The algorithm can expand the network throughput and reduce the power consumption. The experimental results demonstrate that the novel cross-layer improving protocol which uses clustering and power control scheme provides longer lifetime and higher throughput than the current important protocols while keeping the network stably.