Abstract
In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), efficient use of the nodes' available energy is the main goal which most of the routing protocols seek to achieve. In fact, clustering based routing protocols have gained vast approval due to its merit of less energy exhaustion. The expended energy by one cluster is divided into two main terms, namely, the expended energy in intra-cluster communication (Intra-term) and the dissipated energy by the Cluster Head (CH) to reach to the Base Station (BS), (Inter-term). Without a doubt, reducing both terms would have a great impact on enhancing the network lifetime. As the topology control plays a crucial role in balancing the energy of nodes, we use a Location based Topology Control (LTC) to manage the operation of the active nodes through the sensing field. Hence the Intra term is minimized. Moreover, four multiple levels of clustering hierarchy (FL-LEACH) are employed. Actually, FL-LEACH is an extended work for three layers clustering (TL-LEACH). Both of them are based on restricting the number of nodes which can communicate directly with BS. This reduces and balances the Inter-term. Simulation results show that our proposed protocol is more efficient than other conventional protocols, such as LEACH and TL-LEACH.