On clustering in sensor networks
Résumé
Why to build clusters in sensor networks ? Agregating nodes in clusters allows to reduce the complexity of the routing algorithms, to optimize the medium resource by letting it to be locally managed by a cluster head, to make easy the data fusion, to simplify the network management and particularly the address allocation, to optimize the energy consumption, and at last to make the network more scalable. Using clusters allows also to stabilize the topology if the cluster size is large in comparison to the speed of the nodes. This chapter is dedicated to clustering in sensor networks. First, the state of the art is presented, followed by the detailed presentation of one of the best and most cited cluster formation method with its validation and correction. Then, the next parts of the chapter are dedicated to some considerations on cluster modelling. In the last part, a method to assign addresses to the nodes within a cluster is presented.