Fuzzy C Means Clustering and Ant Colony Optimization based Routing Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Routing protocol based on Fuzzy C Means Clustering and Ant Colony Optimization for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSN) is presented in this paper. The network consists of several underwater sensor nodes that transfer the data packets to the Surface Station (SS). Fuzzy C Means Clustering and Ant Colony Optimization based Routing Protocol (FACOCRP) for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks encompasses cluster formation, selection of cluster heads, and inter-cluster routing protocol. The Fuzzy C Means (FCM) clustering technique is used to create clusters. Cluster heads are chosen by considering the center of the cluster into account in the first round. The leftover energy of underwater sensor nodes’ is considered for cluster head selection by keeping the same cluster from the second round. FACOCRP uses an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm for energy-efficient and reliable inter-cluster communication from cluster heads to the surface station. The FACOCRP is better than UWISN, SH-FEER and MH-FEER for energy consumption up to 54.22%, for network lifetime up to 53.89%, for FND up to 39.44%, and packets transmitted to surface stations up to 73.73%.