Energy and Path Aware Clustering Algorithm (EPAC) for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Node clustering is a technique that mitigates the change in topology in Ad hoc communication. It stabilizes the end to end communication path and maximizes the path life time. In SWARM communication, each cluster is assigned an objective and expected to complete it in the available resources. Most of the algorithms previously designed assume that the assignment of tasks can be done in any arbitrary manner and does not depend on the energy resources. In this work, we have emphasized that the number of nodes in a cluster is fundamentally related to the energy requirement of the objective. With the help of this new algorithm, we minimize energy consumption in a cluster by improving the mechanism for selecting objective, depending upon the amount of energy present at the nodes of that cluster.