Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are composed of numerous sensor nodes, each equipped with the ability to sense, collect, and analyze data within the physical environment they are deployed in. These nodes, operating on limited battery power, face significant challenges in maximizing network lifespan. Integrating conventional Wide Local Area Network (WLAN) techniques into WSNs can notably enhance performance. While the LEACH routing algorithm is widely employed to optimize energy efficiency in WSNs, it has inherent limitations. This study proposes enhancing the LEACH protocol by incorporating sectoring and Code Division Multiple Access (S-LEACH-CDMA) for inter-cluster communication and cluster head (CH) to base station (BS) communication. In the proposed technique, the network is divided into sectors where nodes form clusters, and those not in clusters can send their data directly to the BS. CDMA facilitates simultaneous data transmissions from multiple cluster heads to the base station, thereby increasing throughput and mitigating energy wastage due to collisions. Sectoring the network ensures balanced energy consumption and reduced interference by evenly distributing cluster heads and organizing the network geographically. These enhancements lead to notable improvements in network performance. The evaluation of S-LEACH-CDMA, S-LEACH, and LEACH is conducted through simulations using two different scenarios. The results show that the S-LEACH-CDMA protocol significantly increased network lifetime compared to LEACH. Specifically, for a small number of nodes, S-LEACH-CDMA achieved a lifetime improvement of 24%, while for a larger number of nodes, the improvement reached 28%. Additionally, as the number of sensors increases, the network lifetime of S-LEACH-CDMA continues to improve, making it suitable for large-scale deployments with high data traffic demands.