Abstract: In order to mitigate the “hot spot” problem in wireless sensor networks, which is caused by the multi-hop transmission mode, this paper proposes a layer-based unequal clustering protocol. In this protocol, the network is partitioned into several layers based on the distance to the sink of each node. The election of cluster heads in each layer is accomplished by a weight-based distributed competition, which is taken into account the residual energy and position of the candidates. In addition, multi-hop routes are established for both intra-cluster and inter-cluster data transmission. Simulation results show that the proposed protocol is effective in balancing the energy consumption and prolonging the network lifetime.
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Key words: wireless sensor networks, unequal clustering, hot spot