Real-time wireless sensor networks are becoming more and more important by the requirement of message delivery timeliness in emerging new applications. Supporting real-time QoS in sensor networks faces severe challenges due to the wireless nature, limited resource, low node reliability, distributed architecture and dynamic network topology. There are tradeoffs between different application requirements including energy efficiency and delay performance. This paper studies the state of the art of current real-time solutions including MAC protocols, routing protocols, data processing strategies and cross-layer designs. Some research challenges and future design favors are also identi¯ed and discussed.