Enhancing lifetime of WSN through RA-LEACH (Revised ACO based LEACH algorithm)

Abstract

The nodes in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) are generally grouped in clusters to improve the longevity
and efficiency of the network. Since the nodes have limited power capabilities and finite computation power, it becomes
imperative to design algorithms to conserve the limited resources of the WSN in order to enhance the up time of the
network.
In this paper, a revised version of Ant Colony Optimization based LEACH protocol (RA-LEACH) is compared with
LEACH protocol [1], with focus on the energy consumption by the nodes. The proposed RA-LEACH protocol while
electing Cluster Heads (CHs) takes into consideration the following parameters – the ratio of the residual energy at each
node with its original energy and the ratio of the distance of the node from the Base Station (BS) with the distance of the
farthest node.
From the simulation results, it is evident that change in the threshold calculations, improves the original design of
LEACH algorithm in terms of minimizing energy consumption and improving the network lifetime.