Fuzzy Logic-Based Cluster Heads Percentage Calculation for Improving the Performance of the LEACH Protocol

Abstract

In wireless sensor networks, cluster-based routing was proven to be the most energy-efficient strategy to deal with the scaling problem. In addition, selecting the proper number of clusters is a critical decision that can impose a significant impact on the energy consumption and the network lifetime. This paper presents FL-LEACH, a variant of the well-known LEACH clustering protocol, which attempts to relax the stringent strategy of determining the number of clusters used by LEACH via fuzzy logic decision-making scheme. This relates the number of clusters to a number of network characteristics such as the number of sensor nodes, the area of the sensing field, and the location of the base station. The performance of FL-LEACH was evaluated via simulation and was compared against LEACH using standard metrics such as network lifetime and remaining network energy. The results depicted that the proposed approach has the potential to substantially conserve the sensor node energy and extend lifetime of the network.