The invention describes a method for predicting the performance of the MLD receiver in MIMO channels. The method is based on the iterative principle where the performance of the MLD decoder is derived from that of an iterative receiver architecture with similar performance. The described Iterative MIMO Effective SNR (IMES) technique maps the performance of each MIMO channel realization into a set of effective SNR values for the different streams. This set of effective SNR values can then be used to provide link adaptation feedback to the transmitter so that the most suitable transmission format can be selected according to the characteristics of the propagation channel. Alternatively, this information can be used to adapt the receiver processing to the channel conditions, thereby making it possible, for example, to reduce the receiver power consumption in good signal conditions.