Scalable Cluster-based Routing in Large Wireless Sensor Networks

Large control overhead is the leading factor limiting the scalability of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Clustering network nodes is an efficient solution, and Passive Clustering (PC) is one of the most efficient clustering methods. In this letter, we propose an improved PC-based route building scheme, named Route Reply (RREP) Broadcast with Passive Clustering (in short RBPC). Through broadcasting RREP packets on an expanding ring to build route, sensor nodes cache their route to the sink node, which reduces the total route search times and thus the control overhead. Simulation results are also provided to show the efficiency of the proposed RBPC in terms of reduced overhead and energy consumption, and it is also shown that RBPC outperforms AODV/PC in the delivery ratio.