###### Abstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are ideas that are closely linked and frequently overlap in their applications and technologies. The Internet of Things can be viewed as an evolution of WSNs [6]. As WSNs are critical to the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors in IoT-based WSNs continuously monitor the surroundings and promptly alert the base station (BS) whenever any incident is detected. An IoT-based WSN also includes a gateway for uploading acquired data to the IoT Cloud. In some setups, the BS might serve as the gateway. Users can access the data saved in the IoT Cloud remotely at any time. The incorporation of IoT principles into WSNs expands their capabilities and creates chances for novel applications across different areas. IoT with WSN support has brought about a number of applications and improved the convenience of everyday living. The distributed network across different WSN applications for the Internet of Things may be static or dynamic depending on its specific requirements [7; 8]. Smart healthcare monitoring systems enable dynamic networks, unlike static networks, which are supported by crop monitoring and environmental monitoring, for instance. WSN-assisted IoT networks cover a larger area than WSN networks and have a higher number of nodes (due to resource constraints) compared to WSN networks. As a result, standard WSN methods may be ineffective in a scalable WSN-aided IoT network. Many researchers used the cluster-based hierarchical framework to solve the scalability and network lifetime problems [9; 10]. The choice and management of Cluster Head (CH) nodes is the primary focus of clustering-based routing systems. The CH receives data from the cluster's nodes. The CH is in charge of aggregating data from localized cluster participants and transmitting it to the base station or surrounding CHs towards the Base Station (BS). This adds additional strain to CH, leading to more energy consumption as compared with ordinary nodes. Moreover, the CH towards BS also serves as Relay Nodes (RN) for the transmitting packets received from far located CHs, and therefore, depletes their energy more faster [11; 12]. To address energy-related issues in scalable WSN-IoT environment, this research aims to design an Energy Efficient Data Communication (EEDC) scheme by utilizing a multi-tier hierarchical clustering framework where each tier is further divided into various regions.The proposed routing protocol aims to provide network load balancing and convert communicating over long distances into shortened multi-hop distance communications, hence enhancing network lifetime. This paper's main contribution can be summarized as follows:  
* This work discusses Region-based Hierarchical Clustering for Efficient Routing (RHCER) that employs energy-efficient clustering and routing techniques. RHCER employs a novel CH selection mechanism to ensure efficient deployment for scalable networks. * To ensure efficient long distance communication along with even load distribution across all network nodes, a subdivision technique was employed in each tier of the proposed framework. * RHCER considers three critical parameters: distance from BS(D), threshold energy (TE), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a multi-criteria decision-making function f(n) for cluster head selection. * In the findings section, the outcome of RHCER is compared to that of various existing energy-efficient protocols in the same area. According to the findings from simulations, the suggested model beats competitors in terms of minimizing energy consumption in sensors and prolonging the lifetime of WSN-associated IoT. This article is divided into several sections: Section 2 discusses the prior work along with problem statement, Section 3 describes the System model along with required settings. Section 4 explains the proposed EEDC scheme in detail. Section 5 discusses the simulation environment and experimental results, and Section 6 concludes and discusses future work in this domain.