Minimization of the number of cluster heads in a wireless sensor network is a very important
problem to reduce channel contention and to improve the efficiency of the algorithm when
executed at the level of cluster-heads. In this paper, we propose an efficient method based
on genetic algorithms (GAs) to solve a sensor network optimization problem. Long
communication distances between sensors and a sink in a sensor network can greatly drain
the energy of sensors and reduce the lifetime of a network. By clustering a sensor network …

Abstract Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are networks of small devices, called motes,
designed to monitor resources and report to a server. Motes are battery-powered and have
very little memory to store data. To conserve power, the motes usually form clusters to
coordinate their activities. In heterogeneous WSNs, the motes have different resources
available to them. For example, some motes might have more powerful radios, or larger
power supplies. By exploiting heterogeneity within a WSN can allow the network to stay …