An Energy-efficient Multi-sink Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks with single sink node have some disadvantages. One example is that certain sensors near the sink or on critical paths consume energy much faster than other nodes. To solve such energy hole problem, we propose an Energy-efficient Multi-sink Clustering Algorithm (EMCA). In EMCA, each cluster head is selected based on the residual energy. We also design an inter-cluster and intra-cluster routing algorithm in order to minimize energy consumption. Inside a cluster, data may be transmitted in a multi-hop way. Simulation results show that our proposed routing algorithm consumes much less energy than traditional routing algorithms like LEACH.