Intelligent Hierarchical Cluster - Based Routing

We propose an energy-efficient hierarchical cluster-based routing (HCR) protocol where nodes self-organize into clusters and each cluster is managed by a set of associates called head-set. Using round-robin technique, each head-set member acts a cluster head (CH). The sensor nodes transmit data to their cluster heads, which transmit the aggregated data to the base station. Moreover, the energy-efficient clusters are retained for a longer period of time; the energy-efficient clusters are identified using heuristics-based approach. The HCR protocol is suitable for continuous monitoring applications. The simulation results show that HCR is more energy efficient than the traditional cluster-based routing protocols. Moreover, the proposed HCR protocol is improved by using agentbased architecture, where query and routing agents are deployed on the base station and sensor nodes. Using Genetic Algorithm (GA) and learning techniques, the routing agent generates the energy efficient hierarchical clusters. Similarly, the query agent generates optimized query execution plans. Based on clusters formation and the query execution plans, the base station creates transmission schedules. The cluster heads transmit the aggregated sensor data to the base station. All the transmissions are based on single-hop communication. The simulation results ∗This work is partly supported by Acadia Graduate Research Award and National Research Council (NRC-IIT), Sydney, Nova Scotia.