Fuzzy Based Clustering and Energy Efficient Routing for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Underwater Wireless Sensor Network (UWSN) is a particular kind of sensor networks which is characterized by using acoustic channels for communication. UWSN is challenged by great issues specially the energy supply of sensor node which can be wasted rapidly by several factors. The most proposed routing protocols for terrestrial sensor networks are not adequate for UWSN, thus new design of routing protocols must be adapted to this constrain. In this paper we propose two new clustering algorithms based on Fuzzy C-Means mechanisms. In the first proposition, the cluster head is elected initially based on the closeness to the center of the cluster, then the node having the higher residual energy elects itself as a cluster head. All non-cluster head nodes transmit sensed data to the cluster head. This latter performs data aggregation and transmits the data directly to the base station. The second algorithm uses the same principle in forming clusters and electing cluster heads but operates in multi-hop mode to forward data from cluster heads to the underwater sink (uw-sink). Furthermore the two proposed algorithms are tested for static and dynamic deployment. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms resulting in an extension of the network lifetime.