Balancing energy consumption using the clustering routing algorithms is one of the most practical solutions for prolonging the lifetime of resource-limited wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, existing protocols cannot adequately minimize and balance the total network energy dissipation due to the additional tasks of data acquisition and transmission of cluster heads. In this paper, a cluster-head rotating election routing protocol is proposed to alleviate the problem. We discovered that the regular hierarchical clustering method and the scheme of cluster-head election area division had positive effects on reducing the energy consumption of cluster head election and intracluster communication. The election criterion composed of location and residual energy factor was proved to lower the probability of premature death of cluster heads. The chain multihop path of intercluster communication was performed to save the energy of data aggregation to the base station. The simulation results showed that the network lifetime can be efficiently extended by regulating the adjustment parameters of the protocol. Compared with LEACH, I-LEACH, EEUC, and DDEEC, the algorithm demonstrated significant performance advantages by using the number of active nodes and residual energy of nodes as the evaluation indicators. On the basis of these results, the proposed routing protocols can be utilized to increase the capability of WSNs against energy constraints.
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