ECDC: An energy and coverage-aware distributed clustering protocol for wireless sensor networks q Xin Gu a , Jiguo Yu a,b,⇑ , Dongxiao Yu c , Guanghui Wang d , Yuhua Lv a a School of Computer Science, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, Shandong 276826, China b Key Laboratory for Intelligent Control Technique of Shandong Province, Rizhao, Shandong 276826, China c Department of Computer Science, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China d School of Mathematics and System Science, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China article info Article history: Available online xxxx abstract Clustering for wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is an effective scheme in utilizing sensor nodes energy and extending the network lifetime, while coverage preservation is one of the most essential issues to guarantee the quality of service (QoS). However, the coverage problem has not been well understood so far. For mission-critical applications of networks, it is crucial to consider coverage requirements when we select cluster heads and routing nodes for the clustering topology. In this paper, we propose the ECDC (Energy and Cover- age-aware Distributed Clustering Protocol), an integrated protocol involving both energy and coverage, which is different from previous clustering protocols. For different practical applications, we design corresponding coverage importance metrics and introduce them into the clustering algorithm. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that our protocol is effective in improving network coverage performance, reducing nodes energy dissipation and extending the network lifetime. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction A wireless sensor network consists of plentiful low-power sensor nodes capable of sensing, processing and communicat- ing. These sensor nodes observe the phenomenon of the monitored field, and send the measured data to the base station (BS). As sensor networks have limited and non-rechargeable energy resources, energy efficiency is a very critical issue in design- ing the network topology, which affects the lifetime of sensor networks greatly. Thus, it is a central concern how to minimize energy dissipation and maximize network lifetime when designing protocols for WSNs. In recent years, clustering has been proved to be an important factor of decreasing the energy dissipation and extending the lifetime of WSNs. In clustering schemes, sensor nodes are grouped into clusters. In each claster, a node is selected as the leader named as the cluster head, while other nodes are called cluster members [1]. Each cluster member measures physical variables related to its environment and then sends them to the cluster head. When the data from all cluster members is collected, cluster heads aggregate the data and send it back to the BS. During this process, cluster heads takes heavier traffic load. Consequently, the energy dissipation of cluster heads is much higher than that of cluster members. Therefore, to extend the lifetime of WSNS, it is critical to select the optimal cluster heads and routers for the clustering topology. Furthermore, in order to meet the quality of service(QoS), many surveillance applications (main tasks of which are target monitoring, information acquisition and effective transmission) require the ability of provide information on the spot from 0045-7906/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2013.08.003 q Reviews processed and recommended for publication to Editor-in-Chief by Associate Editor Dr. Catalin Lacatus. ⇑ Corresponding author at: School of Computer Science, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, Shandong 276826, China. Tel.: +86 6333980462. E-mail addresses: xingu276826@sina.com (X. Gu), jiguoyu@sina.com (J. Yu), dxyu@cs.hku.hk (D. Yu), ghwang@sdu.edu.cn (G. Wang), lv_yuhua@126.com (Y. Lv). Computers and Electrical Engineering xxx (2013) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers and Electrical Engineering journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compeleceng Please cite this article in press as: Gu X et al. ECDC: An energy and coverage-aware distributed clustering protocol for wireless sensor net- works. Comput Electr Eng (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compeleceng.2013.08.003