Energy conservation in clustered wireless sensor networks

In this paper, results from Wald's equation and stochastic geometry are applied to the analysis of the energy expended in a homogeneous clustered Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). We determine the optimum number of clusterheads for minimising the energy expended by a single-hop clustered WSN in transmitting data to a sink using nonlinear and linear aggregation models, and include error control. Our model makes it possible to determine the optimum number of clusters given the node electronic energy expended, the type of aggregation employed, the propagation loss and the network geometry. The effect of these parameters on the optimum number of clusterheads is analysed. The analytical model is verified with simulations. We observe that, in some networks, clustering is not beneficial for minimising network energy.