“…Figure 2 depicts the proposed scheme visited nodes as well as communication steps along with the diverse 3PAKE protocols explored during the last decade by various researchers. From Figure 2, it is clear that the suggested protocol is capable to visit over the 20 nodes, while the existing K. Pak et al [31], Y. Tang et al [32], I. Vazquez Sandoval et al [33] and C. M. Chen et al [34] protocols visit just over 18, 17, 13, and 15 nodes, respectively. Further, our protocol takes two communication steps in the testing procedure, which is optimal and minimum, while the existing protocols, i.e., K. Pak et al [31], Y. Tang et al [32], I. Vazquez Sandoval et al [33], and C. M. Chen et al [34], take 6, 6, 4, and 5 communication steps, respectively.…”