Abstract: In consideration of the characteristic that cluster heads close to the base station consume the larger energy in wireless sensor networks using multi-hop communication model,an uneven clustering algorithm based on clustering optimization was presented in this paper．The constructed network model is divided into various non-uniform layers,and then each layer completes unequal clustering by clustering independently．During the course of cluster heads election,the proposed algorithm optimizes the cluster heads election method according to the weighting sum of the node’s residual energy and distance to layer’s middle line．After completion of clustering,cluster heads adjust their communication distance in order to build dynamic multi-hop routing among cluster heads．Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can generate the stable number of cluster heads and reasonable topology,and also prolong the network lifetime by balancing the energy consumption of nodes effectively compared with LEACH and EEUC.

Key words: Wireless sensor network,Uneven clustering,Cluster heads,Grade