| Abstract: | With the increasing demands for mobile wireless sensor networks in recent years, designing an energy‐efficient clustering and routing protocol has become very important. This paper provides an analytical model to evaluate the power consumption of a mobile sensor node. Based on this, a clustering algorithm is designed to optimize the energy efficiency during cluster head formation. A genetic algorithm technique is employed to find the near‐optimal threshold for residual energy below which a node has to give up its role of being the cluster head. This clustering algorithm along with a hybrid routing concept is applied as the near‐optimal energy‐efficient routing technique to increase the overall efficiency of the network. Compared to the mobile low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy protocol, the simulation studies reveal that the energy‐efficient routing technique produces a longer network lifetime and achieves better energy efficiency. |
