System and method for providing a congestion-aware routing metric for selecting a route between nodes in a multihopping communication network

A node, operating within a wireless communication network, the node comprising:

• a transceiver, operating to transmit and receive packets;
• and
• a controller, operating to:
• determine information pertaining to transmission of a packet each of one or more routes from the node to another node, the information comprising a packet length, a data rate, a packet completion rate, a transmission time of the packet, an additional time for retransmission of a failed packet by the transceiver, and a time elapsed between arrival of a received packet at the transceiver and a first attempt at transmission of a packet by the transceiver in response to the received packet,
• calculate a routing metric based on the determined information for each of the one or more routes, and
• select a route having a best routing metric for communication of at least one subsequent packet.

A method for communicating in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

• operating a plurality of nodes, communicating in the wireless network, to each determine respective information comprising a packet length, a data rate, a packet completion rate, a transmission time of a packet, an additional time for retransmission of a failed packet, and a time elapsed between arrival of a received packet and a first attempt at transmission of a packet by the node in response to the received packet;
• operating the plurality of nodes to transmit their respective information for receipt by other nodes;
• and
• operating each of the plurality of nodes to calculate a respective routing metric based on their respective information and the information received from the other nodes.

A method for providing a congestion-aware routing metric for selecting a route between nodes in a multihopping communication network, the method comprising:

• calculating an associated routing metric for each of a plurality of routes between a source node and a destination node based on one or more parameters including a completion rate, a data rates, a media access control (MAC) overhead and a congestion, wherein one or more of the plurality of routes comprise a multihop route, and further wherein the associated routing metric of the multihop route comprises a cumulative routing metric calculated using an individual routing metric of each of a plurality of hops within the multihopping route;
• selecting a route for communication between the source node and the destination node with the best associated routing metric;
• determining whether communication in one hop of the multihop route and communication in another hop of the multihop route can occur concurrently;
• allotting more bandwidth along the multihop route when the communications can occur concurrently;
• and
• decreasing the throughput along the multihop route when the communications cannot occur concurrently.