Methods and apparatus for predicting and monitoring performance of a coherent optical transceiver at various baud rates

An apparatus, comprising:

• an optical transceiver configured to be operatively coupled to a network, the optical transceiver including a variable optical attenuator (VOA) and a processor operatively coupled to the VOA,
• the VOA configured to vary a receiver optical power (ROP) parameter to obtain a plurality of ROP values at a plurality of baud rate values,
• the processor configured to measure a plurality of bit error rate (BER) values in response to the plurality of ROP values at the plurality of baud rate values,
• the processor configured to estimate a plurality of optical signal noise ratio (OSNR) values at the plurality of baud rate values based on the plurality of BER values and the plurality of ROP values,
• the processor configured to send a signal when an OSNR value from the plurality of OSNR values meets a criteria such that the optical transceiver is reconfigured.

A method, comprising:

• measuring a plurality of receiver optical power (ROP) values of an optical transceiver at a plurality of baud rates, the optical transceiver configured to be operatively coupled to a network, a transmitter of the optical transceiver connected to a receiver of the optical transceiver during a design verification test of the optical transceiver;
• measuring a plurality of bit error rate (BER) values at the plurality of baud rates at an input port of the optical transceiver;
• determining an estimated optical signal noise ratio (OSNR) value at a baud rate from the plurality of baud rates at the input port of the optical transceiver based on the plurality of ROP values and the plurality of BER values;
• and
• sending a signal indicating the estimated OSNR value at the baud rate such that a planned route is selected to send data signals based on the estimated OSNR value at the baud rate.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to be operatively coupled to a photo diode of an optical transceiver,
• the processor configured to receive a plurality of receiver optical power (ROP) values at a plurality of baud rate values from the photo diode,
• the processor configured to measure a plurality of bit error rate (BER) values of a digital modulated signal at the plurality of baud rate values,
• the processor configured to determine an estimated optical signal noise ratio (OSNR) value at a baud rate value from the plurality of baud rate values based on the plurality of ROP values at the plurality of baud rate values and the plurality of BER values at the plurality of baud rate values,
• the processor configured to send a signal indicating the estimated OSNR value at the baud rate value such that a planned route is selected to send data signals based on the estimated OSNR value.