System and method for selecting a route based on link metrics incorporating channel bandwidth, spatial streams and/or guard interval in a multiple-input multiple-output (mimo) network

A method for selecting one of a plurality of paths between a source node and a destination node in an ad-hoc multi-hopping peer-to-peer wireless communications network with MIMO capability based on link metrics (LMs) for each of the paths, the method comprising:

• (a) selecting, at a source node, a first path from the plurality of possible paths to the destination node, wherein the first path comprises one or more communication links that wirelessly connect the source node to the destination node;
• (b) determining, at each node along the first path, a corresponding link metric (LM) for the communication link between each particular node and next-hop node towards the destination node in the first path based on a plurality of variables including at least one of:
• a number of spatial streams used to transmit over the communication link, and a guard interval used to transmit over the communication link;
• and
• (c) summing, at the source node, the link metrics (LMs) for each communication link along the path to generate a path metric for the first path.