  The most important challenge in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is the energy
constraint. Numerous solutions have been proposed to alleviate the issue,
including clustering. Game theory is an effective decision-making tool that has
been shown to be effective in solving complex problems. In this paper, we
employ cooperative games and propose a new clustering scheme called Coalitional
Game-Theoretic Clustering (CGTC) algorithm for WSNs. The idea is to partition
the entire network area into two regions, namely far and vicinity, in order to
address the hotspot problem in WSNs, wherein nodes close to the base station
(BS) tend to deplete their energy faster due to relaying the traffic load
received from farther nodes. Then, coalitional games are utilized to group
nodes as coalitions. The main factor in choosing coalition heads is the energy
level of nodes so that the most powerful nodes play the role of heads. The
Shapley value is adopted as the solution concept to our coalitional games. The
results of simulations confirm the effectiveness of CGTC in terms of energy
efficiency and improved throughput.
