Enhancing Energy Balance and Energy Saving in EH-Wireless Sensor Networks

the restricted and unpredictability of energy in Energy harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs), where sensor batteries are difficult to replace or recharge, has prompted the development of numerous cluster-based routing techniques.. In all stages, the cluster-based routing protocols must contend with the issues of energy balance and conservation. First, by rotating cluster heads among sensors often can enhance energy balance; nevertheless, clustering overhead rapidly rises. Although multi-hop routing reduces the energy consumption of cluster heads located far from the base station, it degrades energy balance since the cluster heads closest to the base station need more energy to transmit data of their own clusters as well as relays of data from other cluster heads. This paper presents a hybrid optimization approach integrating Black Widow Optimization (BWO) and Improved Ant Colony Optimization (IACO) for cluster routing in EH-WSNs. The proposed method significantly improves energy balance and network lifetime, outperforming existing protocols in energy efficiency and scalability.