Abstract: In order to improve the energy efficiency of clustered wireless sensor networks and prolong the network lifetime, the discrete binary particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the selection of cluster heads. First, binary coding is used to encode the results of cluster head selection, the fitness function is designed with factors comprehensively considered such as node energy, location, and the number of cluster heads, and the optimal clustering result is obtained through continuous iteration of particle swarms. Then, we introduce the multi-hop inter-cluster routing method of the cluster head to further reduce the energy consumption of nodes. Simulation experiments prove that the proposed clustering optimization algorithm effectively balances the node load, reduces network energy consumption, and obviously prolongs the network lifetime.