Energy-efficient and secure routing strategy for opportunistic data transmission in WSNs

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ABSTRACT Driven by the critical importance of routing in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) and the security vulnerabilities present in existing protocols, this research aims to address the key challenges in securing WSNs. Many current routing protocols focus on computational efficiency but fall short of providing strong security measures, leaving them vulnerable to malicious attacks. Reactive protocols, often preferred for their reduced bandwidth usage, heighten security concerns due to their limited resources for maintaining network routes, while proactive alternatives require more resources. Additionally, the ad hoc nature and energy limitations of WSNs make traditional security models, designed for wired and wireless networks, impractical. To overcome these limitations, this paper introduces the Secured Energy-Efficient Opportunistic Routing Scheme for sustainable WSNs. The proposed protocol is designed to enhance security by continuously updating neighbor information and verifying the validity of routing parameters, while also being power-aware, a critical factor given the energy constraints of WSNs. The protocol has been evaluated through simulation experiments, measuring key performance indicators such as throughput, average end-to-end delay (E2 delay), energy consumption, and network lifetime. The results demonstrate that the proposed protocol effectively strengthens WSN security while addressing the unique operational constraints of these networks.