TY - EJOU AU - Alharbi, Mekhled AU - Haseeb, Khalid AU - Humayun, Mamoona TI - AI-Driven SDN and Blockchain-Based Routing Framework for Scalable and Trustworthy AIoT Networks T2 - Computer Modeling in Engineering \& Sciences PY - 2025 VL - 145 IS - 2 SN - 1526-1506 AB - Emerging technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT) are integrating for the growth and development of heterogeneous networks. These systems are providing real-time devices to end users to deliver dynamic services and improve human lives. Most existing approaches have been proposed to improve energy efficiency and ensure reliable routing; however, trustworthiness and network scalability remain significant research challenges. In this research work, we introduce an AI-enabled Software-Defined Network (SDN)- driven framework to provide secure communication, trusted behavior, and effective route maintenance. By considering multiple parameters in the forwarder selection process, the proposed framework enhances network stability and optimizes decision-making. In addition, the involvement of the blockchain consensus algorithm and the intelligence of the SDN controller enables a proposed framework for robust authentication and a verifiable process of data blocks. Ultimately, only trusted devices are selected for routing, and malicious threats are prevented as data is forwarded to the cloud system. The extensive experimental analysis demonstrated that the proposed framework significantly improved energy consumption by 48%, packet loss by 49%, response time by 46%, and data transfer rate by 45% compared with existing techniques. KW - Blockchain; energy efficiency; Internet of Things; software-defined networking; trust management DO - 10.32604/cmes.2025.073039