A multi-objective optimization problems of clustering protocols for wireless sensor networks using meta-heuristic techniques

Abstract

Energy efficiency and prolonging the lifetime is a central issue in wireless sensor network. Clustering methods using meta-heuristic techniques are widely used to address this issue. Besides clustering, meta-heuristic techniques have been also applied to address several other key issues pertaining to WSN such as node deployment, coverage, optimal sensor deployment, topology control, scheduling etc. These problems are formulated as single/multi T objective optimization problems. The overall objectives of the optimization are to minimize energy consumption and maximize the lifetime of the network. The article presents a mathematical formulation of a generic multi-objective optimization problems related to clustering. A generalized model of meta-heuristic based clustering is proposed for its solution, taking into account the features of the WSN. The feature of the model comprises functional multi-purpose clustering quality assessment that takes into account the characteristics of spatial distribution and compactness of sensors, parameters of individual sensors and network characteristics. The article also gives a brief overview of different approaches to clustering methods. A comparative analysis of the improved protocols for heterogeneous WSN has been carried out, which showed the advantages of the proposed solutions.