A Comparative Analysis of Transport Layer Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks and IoT: Toward Sustainable Communication Solutions

The combination of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and the Internet of Things (IoT) is playing an increasingly important role in areas like agriculture, healthcare, and smart infrastructure. This growing convergence relies heavily on the transport layer for handling end-to-end communication, maintaining data reliability, and managing energy use efficiently.In this paper, we review and compare several well-known transport layer protocols used in WSN and IoT systems, including CODA, ESRT, PSFQ, RMST, MQTT, and CoAP. Rather than focusing solely on technical specifications, this review looks at how these protocols differ in terms of energy efficiency, scalability, latency, security, and Quality of Service (QoS).This work also discusses how the design of these protocols connects to broader sustainability concerns, particularly in terms of energy-aware communication and building reliable, long-lasting networks. The aim is to give researchers and developers a clearer view of how existing transport protocols perform in resource-limited environments, and how those choices affect the overall sustainability and efficiency of IoT and WSN systems.