Organizing sensor networks into clustered architectures is an effective approach for load balancing, and prolonging the network lifetime. This paper proposes a Distributed Energy Efficient Scheme to Cluster Wireless Sensor Networks (DESC). This protocol achieves energy efficiency using two techniques: on demand clustering and a multi-criteria cluster formation. Whenever a cluster head consumes a prespecified part of its energy, it indirectly informs other nodes to hold cluster head elections for the upcoming round. Therefore, clustering is performed sporadically (in contrast to performing it every round). In DESC, a node with higher amount of remaining energy is considered a more eligible candidate for election as a cluster head. Besides, each node computes a multi-criteria cost, and a regular (non-cluster head) node elects the cluster head with the most cost to connect to. Simulation results show that the protocol outperforms HEED and LEACH protocols in terms of network lifetime and energy savings.

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