The colossal evolution of wireless communication technologies over the past few years has driven increased interest in its integration in a variety of less-explored environments, such as the underwater medium. In this magazine paper, we present a comprehensive discussion on a novel concept of routing protocol known as cross-media routing, incorporating the marine and aerial interfaces. In this regard, we discuss the limitation of single-media routing and advocate the need for cross-media routing along with the current status of research development in this direction. To this end, we also propose a novel cross-media routing protocol known as bubble routing for autonomous marine systems where different sets of AUVs, USVs, and airborne nodes are considered for the routing problem. We evaluate the performance of the proposed routing protocol by using the two key performance metrics, i.e., packet delivery ratio (PDR) and end-to-end delay. Moreover, we delve into the challenges encountered in cross-media routing, unveiling exciting opportunities for future research and innovation. As wireless communication expands its horizons to encompass the underwater and aerial domains, understanding and addressing these challenges will pave the way for enhanced cross-media communication and exploration.

翻译：过去几年中，无线通信技术的巨大发展激发了人们将其融入多种较少探索环境（如水下介质）的兴趣。在这篇期刊论文中，我们对一种名为“跨介质路由”的新型路由协议概念进行了全面讨论，该协议整合了海洋与空中接口。为此，我们讨论了单介质路由的局限性，并倡导跨介质路由的必要性，同时阐述了该方向的研究发展现状。此外，我们还提出了一种新颖的跨介质路由协议——气泡路由，用于自主海洋系统，其中考虑了不同组合的自主水下航行器（AUV）、无人水面航行器（USV）和空中节点。我们通过两个关键性能指标——数据包投递率（PDR）和端到端延迟——对所提出的路由协议进行了性能评估。此外，我们深入探讨了跨介质路由面临的挑战，揭示了未来研究与创新的激动人心的机遇。随着无线通信拓展其边界以涵盖水下与空中领域，理解并应对这些挑战将为增强跨介质通信与探索铺平道路。