Fault-Tolerant Clustering with Adaptive Ant Colony Optimization for Energy-Efficient Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) play a critical role in various applications, including environmental monitoring, healthcare, and industrial automation. However, these networks face significant challenges related to energy efficiency, fault tolerance, and reliable data transmission, particularly in dynamic environments. Existing clustering and routing techniques often fail to ensure seamless fault tolerance and energy optimization simultaneously. Many traditional approaches lack robust mechanisms to handle Cluster Head (CH) failures, resulting in reduced network stability and shorter operational lifetimes. To address these limitations, this study proposes a Fault-Tolerant Backup Cluster Head with Ant Colony Optimization (FT-BKCH-ACO) approach that enhances energy efficiency and network resilience. The methodology involves optimized CH and Backup CH (BKCH) selection, considering parameters such as residual energy, distance to the base station, and network density. Additionally, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is employed to dynamically adjust pheromone levels for energy-efficient routing, ensuring reliable intra-cluster and inter-cluster communication. Simulation results demonstrate that the FT-BKCH-ACO approach significantly improves energy consumption by 23.2%, packet delivery ratio by 10.5% and end-to-end delay by 17.8% compared to existing models. The inclusion of backup CHs ensures seamless communication even in the event of node failures, making this method highly suitable for IoT-enabled WSN applications. The proposed approach bridges the gap between fault-tolerant clustering and adaptive routing, offering a scalable and energy-efficient solution for large-scale sensor networks.