DK-LEACH: An Optimized Cluster Structure Routing Method Based on LEACH in Wireless Sensor Networks

Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) is one of the clustering routing protocols for communication in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). It is based on the assumption that each sensor nodes contain equal amount of energy which is not valid in real scenarios, or the sensor nodes are almost spaced evenly. This paper presents an optimized cluster structure routing method called Dynamic K value LEACH (DK-LEACH), which aims at reducing energy consumption within the uneven energy distributed WSNs. DK-LEACH considers the energy factor of Cluster Heads (CHs) in the phase of clusters formation. Furthermore, the distance between CHs and non-CHs nodes is calculated out, and the proportion of this distance and surplus energy of CHs is adjusted dynamically based on the density of node distribution. Then, the most suitable CHs are chosen by non-CHs to form clusters, which balance energy depletion of CHs effectively. Simulation results show that the proposed method performs better than LEACH in terms of energy saving and prolongs the network lifetime, the survival rate of nodes improves 8.75% at least compared with LEACH.