Wireless Sensor Network Clustering Method and System

Clustering for Wireless Sensor Network Lifetime Extension Based on Two-Tier Architecture and Decision-Making Nodes

This technology is a wireless sensor network clustering method and system that divides sensor nodes into a first tier, which communicates directly with the base station, and a second tier. Decision-making nodes in the first tier select cluster heads for the second tier and assign unique postfix counters to packet sequence numbers for each cluster.

Wireless sensor devices are often battery-operated and deployed in hard-to-reach areas, making recharging or replacement difficult. The clustering process itself consumes significant energy under limited energy, computational, and bandwidth constraints, which limits network lifespan.

This technology reduces overall energy load by splitting the network into two tiers and prevents cluster head overload by limiting the number of nodes connected to each head. It can be applied to environmental monitoring, disaster surveillance, and smart factory sensor networks, enabling long-term, stable data collection without battery replacement.

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Key Features:

• A self-organization phase where all sensor nodes broadcast their information and store received data to identify reachable neighboring sensor nodes
• A tier design phase that sets sensor nodes capable of direct communication with the base station as the first tier, and all other sensor nodes as the second tier
• A phase that selects decision-making nodes from the first tier and cluster heads and member nodes from the second tier
• A phase where decision-making nodes assign unique postfix counters to each connected cluster and include them in the data packet sequence numbers

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