A Lightweight Adaptive Holding-time Policy for Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26636/jtit.2026.2.2598Keywords:
adaptive holding time, energy efficiency, semi-Markov control, topology refresh, wireless sensor networksAbstract
In clustered wireless sensor networks (WSNs), re-shaping the topology can redistribute cluster head load, but each such task consumes energy. This paper studies the refresh timing problem in static clustered WSNs, where the controller decides not only whether to rebuild the topology but also determines the time over which the selected topology remains active. The proposed method formulates topology maintenance as a semi-Markov adaptive holding-time control problem. At each control epoch, the controller selects a refresh indicator, a target cluster count, and a holding time. The topology builder uses explicit cluster head election, nearest head member association, and intra-cluster chain forwarding with one-hop cluster head transmission to the base station. Under nominal deployment, the proposed controller reaches a half-node death (HND) point of 1969.1 ±8.4 rounds with 0.104 J of control energy, while periodic refresh with T = 10 reaches 1819.7 ±32.6 rounds and consumes 1.133 J. Across seven tested deployment scenarios, the proposed method gives a higher HND point with lower control energy than the tested refresh-enabled baselines. Therefore, the method is positioned as a lifetime overhead control mechanism, favoring lower control energy and longer mid-life operation, whereas periodic refresh remains preferable when delivery performance is the primary objective.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Trong-Minh Hoang, Thanh-Long Tran, Huy-Long Tran, Ngoc-Bich Pham, Sinh Cong Lam
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