Adaptive contention window-based cluster head election mechanisms for wireless sensor networks

The clustering architecture is essential in achieving the goal of energy efficiency for a wireless sensor network. In general, a clustering algorithm consists of the cluster head election and the cluster member assignment mechanism. This paper proposes an adaptive contention window (ACW)-based cluster head election mechanism. Unlike other legacy cluster head election mechanisms such as LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) protocol, the proposed ACW algorithm can achieve four major goals in cluster head election for wireless sensor networks: 1) high successful probability of cluster head election, 2) appropriate number of cluster heads, 3) uniform distribution of cluster heads, and, 4) equal times to be a cluster head for each sensor, simultaneously.