{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,9]],"date-time":"2026-07-09T20:42:26Z","timestamp":1783629746132,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,10]],"date-time":"2021-03-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1615334400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Much attention has been focused lately on the Opportunistic Routing technique (OR) that can overcome the restrictions of the harsh underwater environment and the unique structures of the Underwater Sensor Networks (UWSNs). OR enhances the performance of the UWSNs in both packet delivery ratio and energy saving. In our work; we propose a new routing protocol; called Energy Efficient Depth-based Opportunistic Routing with Void Avoidance for UWSNs (EEDOR-VA), to address the void area problem. EEDOR-VA is a reactive OR protocol that uses a hop count discovery procedure to update the hop count of the intermediate nodes between the source and the destination to form forwarding sets. EEDOR-VA forwarding sets can be selected with less or greater depth than the packet holder (i.e., source or intermediate node). It efficiently prevents all void\/trapped nodes from being part of the forwarding sets and data transmission procedure; thereby saving network resources and delivering data packets at the lowest possible cost. The results of our extensive simulation study indicate that the EEDOR-VA protocol outperforms other protocols in terms of packet delivery ratio and energy consumption.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s21061942","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,10]],"date-time":"2021-03-10T20:51:42Z","timestamp":1615409502000},"page":"1942","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":30,"title":["Void Avoidance Opportunistic Routing Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7424-7530","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rogaia","family":"Mhemed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Engineering Mathematics and Internetworking, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Comeau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Engineering, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William","family":"Phillips","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Engineering Mathematics and Internetworking, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9500-3970","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nauman","family":"Aslam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Computer and Information Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"36","article-title":"Design of a Node for an Underwater Sensor Network","volume":"91","author":"Varughese","year":"2014","journal-title":"Inter. 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