A systematic review on clustering and routing techniques based upon LEACH protocol for wireless sensor networks

In recent years, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have emerged as a new powerful technology used in many applications such as military operations, surveillance system, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) etc. These networks consist of many Sensor Nodes (SNs), which are not only used for monitoring but also capturing the required data from the environment. Most of the research proposals on WSNs have been developed keeping in view of minimization of energy during the process of extracting the essential data from the environment where SNs are deployed. The primary reason for this is the fact that the SNs are operated on battery which discharges quickly after each operation. It has been found in literature that clustering is the most common technique used for energy aware routing in WSNs. The most popular protocol for clustering in WSNs is Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) which is based on adaptive clustering technique. This paper provides the taxonomy of various clustering and routing techniques in WSNs based upon metrics such as power management, energy management, network lifetime, optimal cluster head selection, multihop data transmission etc. A comprehensive discussion is provided in the text highlighting the relative advantages and disadvantages of many of the prominent proposals in this category which helps the designers to select a particular proposal based upon its merits over the others. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.