It is not suitable to use conventional wireless sensor networks (WSNs) routing protocols to transfer multimedia content such as video and audio streams on wireless multimedia sensor networks (WMSNs).In order to address those problems

a few new routing protocols were introduced recently.The QoS guarantee routing problem for WMSNs is defined firstly and some facing challenges are discussed in the field.Secondly

after classifying conventional WSNs routing protocols into five groups according to their features

the QoS routing protocol requirements for WMSNs are analyzed

along with their design principles

strategies and limitations.Thirdly

as the main content

the representative QoS routing protocols for WMSNs are surveyed in detail

including their design objective

core idea

basic strategy

main procedure

advantages and drawbacks.Ultimately

open research issues for WMSNs routing protocol are also pointed out.