ABSTRACT
A good clustering approach in the context of a wireless sensor network (WSN) is to organize the sensor nodes (SNs) in the network to optimize the consumption of energy as well as ensure a longer operational lifespan. The HEED protocol (Hybrid Energy-Efficient Distributed) is a clustering technology that is frequently used in WSNs. ICHB-HEED is a smart cluster head election protocol using BFOA (bacterial foraging optimization algorithm). In this paper, we propose a multi-level ICHB-HEED (MLICHBHEED) protocol consisting of varying energy levels in a heterogeneous model based on the ICHB-HEED protocol, i.e., MLICHBHEED-1, MLICHBHEED-2, MLICHBHEED-3, MLICHBHEED-4, and MLICHBHEED-5 up to five levels of heterogeneity, which can further be extended to any level of heterogeneity as per the WSN’s requirement. The experiments show that when 226the level of heterogeneity increases, the energy dissipation rate lowers down, allowing nodes to stay active for longer periods, resulting in a considerable increase in network lifespan.
