Routing protocols as one of the key communication techniques that intend to enable and maintain robust communication routes in the network, play a significant part in boosting the performance of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). During the last 18 years, researchers proposed several diverse modifications of chain-based routing protocols in WSN as they are effective in balancing the WSN power-consumption. The first and most popular chain-based routing protocol is Power-Efficient Gathering in Sensor Information Systems (PEGASIS). We provide in this paper, a sophisticated survey of chain-based routing protocols in WSNs that are successors of PEGASIS in terms of Multi hop/Single hop Communication and Multi hop/Multi hop Communication. Initially, we give an outline of the challenges in designing WSN routing protocols, and subsequently a detailed survey focusing on chain-based routing protocols with details, benefits and key shortcomings of each technique is presented. Additionally, we discuss the properties of chain-based routing concept along with the used metrics for performance evaluation. The chain-based routing protocols are classified according to how data is transmitted from member nodes to the leader of chain and from the leaders to the Base Station (BS). Moreover, the applications of chain-based routing protocols and future directions for researchers are also highlighted.

路由协议作为旨在在网络中启用和维护可靠的通信路由的关键通信技术之一，在提高无线传感器网络（WSN）的性能方面起着重要作用。在过去的18年中，研究人员提出了WSN中基于链的路由协议的多种多样的修改，因为它们可以有效平衡WSN的功耗。第一个也是最流行的基于链的路由协议是传感器信息系统中的节能收集（PEGASIS）。我们在本文中对WSN中基于链的路由协议进行了详尽的调查，这些WSN是PEGASIS的后继者，在多跳/单跳通信和多跳/多跳通信方面。最初，我们概述了设计WSN路由协议时面临的挑战，随后，针对基于链的路由协议进行了详细的调查，并详细介绍了每种技术的优点，主要缺点。此外，我们讨论了基于链的路由概念的属性以及用于性能评估的度量。基于链的路由协议根据数据如何从成员节点传输到链的领导者以及如何从领导者传输到基站（BS）进行分类。此外，还强调了基于链的路由协议的应用以及研究人员的未来方向。基于链的路由协议根据数据如何从成员节点传输到链的领导者以及如何从领导者传输到基站（BS）进行分类。此外，还强调了基于链的路由协议的应用以及研究人员的未来方向。基于链的路由协议根据数据如何从成员节点传输到链的领导者以及如何从领导者传输到基站（BS）进行分类。此外，还强调了基于链的路由协议的应用以及研究人员的未来方向。