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Abstract

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) have emerged as a promising technology for a wide range of ocean monitoring applications. The UWSNs suffer from unique challenges of the underwater environment, such as dynamic and sparse network topology, which can easily lead to a partitioned network. This results in hotspot formation and the absence of the routing path from the source to the destination. Therefore, to optimize the network lifetime and limit the possibility of hotspot formation along the data transmission path, the need to plan a traffic-aware protocol is raised. In this research, we propose a traffic-aware routing protocol called PG-RES, which is predicated on the ideas of Pressure Gradient and RESistance concept. The proposed PG-RES protocol initially detects its neighboring area using a node request message to build a routing directory that includes the communication cost to each neighboring node. Then, by adjusting the routing process according to network conditions in a proactive mode, PG-RES mitigates traffic burden in the nodes along the transmission path to the sink, so the chances of hotspot occurrence are reduced in the underwater environment. The simulation results have revealed that the proposed PG-RES protocol achieves superior performance than the other techniques in terms of average energy usage, packet delivery ratio, network lifetime, and transmission delay. The PG-RES protocol demonstrated a reliable data transmission with a packet drop ratio that was 13.92% lower than EEDOR-VA and 3.66% lower than VHARD-FS. The development of this protocol aims to support real-time applications in highly isolated ocean environments, where reliable data forwarding and hotspot handling are essential for timely data transmission.

Reason for Retraction

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editorial Office, following an internal investigation conducted in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Retraction Guidelines.

The investigation identified serious concerns affecting the integrity and reliability of the published work. Specifically, one or more of the following issues were confirmed:

  1. Undisclosed use of computer-generated text and/or data, in which substantial portions of the content were produced using algorithmic or artificial intelligence–based tools without transparent disclosure, contrary to the journal's authorship and transparency policies.

  2. Compromised peer-review process, indicating irregularities that undermine the validity, independence or authenticity of the review procedure.

  3. Inappropriate or misleading citations, including references that are irrelevant, improperly used, or appear to artificially inflate citation metrics, thereby distorting the scholarly record.

  4. Authorship-related concerns, including the addition of new author(s) at a later stage of the publication process without adequate justification, documentation, or transparent disclosure, raising unresolved questions regarding author contributions, responsibility, and compliance with the journal's authorship criteria.

The Editorial Office determined that these issues significantly compromise the scientific integrity of the article, and that correction alone would be insufficient to address the concerns. Retraction was therefore deemed necessary to maintain the accuracy and trustworthiness of the scholarly record.

The authors were informed of the findings and the retraction decision. While the authors do not respond to this retraction, the journal has proceeded with the retraction in line with COPE guidance, which permits retraction without author consent when editorial integrity is at risk.

This retraction is issued to alert readers that the findings and conclusions of the article should not be relied upon. The original article will remain accessible for the sake of the scholarly record, but it will be clearly marked as retracted.

Apologies are offered to readers of the journal that this was not detected during the submission process.

Please see the Retraction Notice available at: https://ijcsm.researchcommons.org/ijcsm/vol6/iss3/37

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52866/2788-7421.1367

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