Abstract
This paper proposes a novel authentication protocol for wireless body area networks (WBAN). For the first time, the protocol adopts generic programming concept for cross-layer design of security in WBAN. By careful examination of various WBAN applications/systems and thorough research on physical-layer authentication mechanisms targeted for WBAN, a generic protocol is developed to authenticate entities in WBAN systems. Generic programming focuses on high-level functionality and component interface, leaving technical details for later development. This lightweight approach merits the deployment of emerging WBAN security technologies for a variety of applications. Generic authentication protocols bring academic laboratory results into real world products with practical implementation of WBAN security. The work is then validated with security analysis.