Improved clustering with firefly-optimization-based mobile data collector for wireless sensor networks

To maximize the network lifetime of a wireless sensor network, an efficient transmission technique is critical. The energy constraint is a crucial factor in the sensor network because the sensor nodes are typically battery-run and it is impossible or difficult to recharge them in most application scenarios. Unbalanced data transference in the communication channel frequently produces an energy hole problem, which causes the premature death of the sensor nodes and reduces the network lifetime. To resolve this issue and improve the network lifetime, the proposed approach adjusts the transmission range according to the distances between the cluster heads and their members. Furthermore, a mobile data collector based on the firefly optimization algorithm is employed to increase the network lifetime. The proposed algorithm is compared with standard benchmark algorithms in several scenarios. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms existing algorithms with respect to the network lifetime.