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Article
RANCE: a Randomly Centralized and On-Demand Clustering Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
IEEE Internet of Things Journal
  • Xi Chen, School of Computer Science and Engineering, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
  • Gang Sun, School of Information and Communication Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
  • Tao Wu, School of Computer Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, China
  • Ling Liu, College of Electronic and Information, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, China
  • Hongfang Yu, School of Information and Communication Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
  • Mohsen Guizani, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence
Document Type
Article
Abstract

LEACH-like clustering protocols focus mainly on the low-power, low-rate, and low-wakeup network applications, and work in a multi-round clustering strategy that causes frequent handovers of cluster heads, thus less support for real-time services which require stable cluster topologies. Besides, these protocols are faced with respective drawbacks such as sub-optimality of selected heads, costly node-BS (base station) energy overheads, lack of runtime cluster maintenance, etc. This paper proposes RANCE, a randomly centralized and on-demand clustering protocol, aiming at prolonging nodes’ clustered time to support inter-nodes collaboration while being energy efficient in mobile ad hoc networks. First, RANCE designs a randomly centralized cluster head selection mechanism in which every node in the local wireless network is eligible to initiate the centralized cluster head selection, so that the self-organizing characteristics of mobile ad hoc nodes can be utilized for head selection optimization. Second, taking into account the wireless volatility caused by changes of topology, obstacles, signal strength, etc., the fine-grained cluster relationships maintenance is provided by means of multi-level aliveness and adaptive bidirectional heartbeat packets. Third, RANCE works in an event-driven and on-demand manner instead of a time-triggered manner in LEACH-like protocols, to reduce the impact on continuous services caused by frequent cluster head handovers among all nodes. Simulation results show that RANCE provides longer clustered time (over 99% of nodes’ lifetime in networks more than 100 nodes) and good clustering scalability with high consistency at minimum energy cost, and exhibits good potentials in mobile wireless environments that are infrastructure-less/poor for continuous missions. Author

DOI
10.1109/JIOT.2022.3188679
Publication Date
7-5-2022
Keywords
  • Cluster head selection,
  • Cluster maintenance,
  • Clustering,
  • Handover,
  • Maintenance engineering,
  • Measurement,
  • Mobile ad hoc networks,
  • Mobile Ad Hoc Networks,
  • Protocols,
  • Relays,
  • Topology,
  • Energy efficiency,
  • Information services,
  • Internet protocols,
  • Leaching,
  • Low power electronics,
  • Maintenance,
  • Mobile ad hoc networks,
  • Mobile telecommunication systems
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Citation Information
X. Chen, G. Sun, T. Wu, L. Liu, H. Yu and M. Guizani, "RANCE: a Randomly Centralized and On-Demand Clustering Protocol for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks," in IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2022, doi: 10.1109/JIOT.2022.3188679.