A Cluster-Based Energy-Efficient Secure Optimal Path-Routing Protocol for Wireless Body-Area Sensor Networks  
[PERSON]  
1 School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (K.A.) 2 School of Information Technology and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (G.A. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.K.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (S.R.K.S)  
[PERSON]  
2 School of Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai 600127, India 2  
[PERSON]  
2 School of Information Technology and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (G.A. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.K.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (S.R.K.S)  
[PERSON]  
1 School of Computer Science and Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.D. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (K.A.) [PERSON]  
4 Department of Data Science, School of Science, Engineering and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester M5 4 WT, UK; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] 45 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Lebanese American University, Bylos 13-5053, Lebanon 56 Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Administration, Princess Nourah hint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia 57 Correspondence: [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N.N. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (T.K.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N.N. A subsection of Wireless Sensor Networks known as Wireless Body-Area Networks (WBAN) involves the continuous monitoring of health constraints in everyday life. The WBAN system consists of small sensors that are fixed to various parts of the human body to monitor functional parameters. In addition to recording data, each sensor can transfer them to the sink and the base station. Security of transmission is also a major constraint of WBAN because wireless media is open-access. Black-hole attacks are one of the most common attacks in WBAN, which involve the capture of these nodes by malicious intruders and the re-programming of them to drop packets or produce false packets to break the network. Therefore, it is obligatory to propose a cluster-based and energy-efficient secure routing protocol to enhance the reliability of communication in WBAN. To tackle the threats posed by malicious nodes through black-hole attacks, a new cluster-based energy-efficient and secure routing protocol called Secure Optimal Path-Routing (SOPR) is proposed in this paper to provide reliable and secure routing in WBAN. This protocol employs two algorithms, namely the Balanced Energy-Efficient and Reliable (BEER) algorithm and the One-Time Password and Shift Operations-based encryption and decryption algorithm, which uses a nonce (random number used to safeguard private communications by averting replay attacks), as well as an energy-modeling approach, which has also been suggested in this work to improve security and reduce energy consumption, leading to an increase in network lifespan. The encryption algorithm proposed in this work also performs node authentication to recognize malicious nodes and prevent them from communicating or routing in the network. The nodes in the network are clustered with a designated cluster head (CH) chosen for each cluster with high energy and without a history of malicious activities, including the creation of black holes and the regular dropping of packets. The route-discovery process is initiated by the source sensor node, and its cluster head leads the source node.