Cluster-Oriented Intelligent Secure Routing Protocol Design for Strengthened Communication in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

The rapid advancement of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) has changed the face of traditional road networks to be smart, connected ecosystems. Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are central to this evolution since they provide real-time vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication that enables data to be transferred between entities for effective management of traffic and enhancement of road safety. There is still much to be covered in the development of VANETs, considering dynamic network topology, security weaknesses, and latency in the data transfer process. Most of the routing protocols currently in use are not efficient and secure, especially when used in high-mobility environments. The need to develop a robust, intelligent, and secure routing protocol that ensures high throughput, low latency, and resilience against malicious attacks is what motivates this research. This study proposes the Cluster-Oriented Intelligent Secure Routing Protocol, GO-SBT-CDN-WaO, which combines cluster-based routing with the Modified Greylag-Goose Optimization (MGGO) algorithm, thereby ensuring optimal path selection. The protocol utilizes a Stacked Bi-Tier Convolutional Deep Network (SBT-CDN) for sophisticated threat detection, which is fine-tuned using the Walrus Optimizer (WaO) to ensure reliable and secure communication. The proposed protocol has achieved outstanding performance metrics: throughput of 99.31%, end-to-end delay less than 1 ms, energy efficiency over 99.74%, with packet delivery ratio (PDR) for 99.5%, and superior scalability across diverse network scenarios. Integration of smart routing, advanced optimisation, and robust security with the GO-SBT-CDN-WaO protocol redefines VANET communication to enable resilient, efficient data exchange in ITS environments.