Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) have emerged as a new class of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). They are applicable in several applications specific Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, like area monitoring and video surveillance. Recently, an intense research and considerable progress was conducted in solving numerous wireless sensor-networking challenges. However, the problem of enabling real-time quality-aware video streaming or scalar data transmission in WMSN is still open and largely unexplored. Unfortunately, transmitting multimedia data with reliability and in real time is a challenging task. WMSNs are dedicated for critical and sensitive applications, and the QoS is required and constitutes criterion to succeed the application. Routing protocols are then the building blocks of any WMSN transactions. Many WMSN routing protocols have been proposed previously. The categorization of these protocols is related to the number and type of QoS constraints. The eye-catching category in routing classification is the routing protocols based on Swarm Intelligence (SI). Bio-inspired techniques are very attractive and consider biology as a source of inspiration by mimicking the dynamics of natural species. The principle is to provide optimal routing solutions. In our work, we cover the details on how to define and build smart routes to accommodate QoS-aware applications. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review that specifically focuses on highlighting and describing all existing SI-based routing strategies for WMSNs. Moreover, detailed classification and comparative analysis based on relevant metrics are presented. Design challenges and possible directions for future research are also indicated.
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