Built-in jitter loading and state of polarization generation to characterize optical transceivers

A method of characterizing and optical fiber comprising:

• receiving data for transmission on an X polarization and a Y polarization over a fiber link, wherein the receiving includes a tracking ability for State of Polarization (SOP);
• causing SOP changes for the data for transmission on the X polarization and the Y polarization for a test of the fiber link, via transmitter circuitry;
• causing transmission of a transmitted optical signal over a fiber link on the X polarization and the Y polarization with the SOP changes;
• receiving a received optical signal from the fiber link on the X polarization and the Y polarization and characterizing the fiber link based on the SOP changes, via receiver circuitry,
• wherein the test includes use of different SOP values for corresponding measurements at a receiver to characterize penalties for the different SOP values to determine whether the optical system is operational at the different SOP values;
• and
• determining whether the tracking ability supports the fiber link and providing the characterized penalties to a network operator.

An optical modem system comprising:

• a transmitter Digital Signal Processor (DSP) connected to an Electro-Optic (EO) device configured to interface a fiber link;
• and
• a receiver DSP connected to an Optic-Electro (OE) device configured to interface the fiber link, wherein the receiver DSP includes a tracking ability for State of Polarization (SOP),
• wherein the transmitter DSP is configured to cause SOP changes on an X polarization and a Y polarization, and the receiver DSP is configured to measure the SOP changes on the X polarization and the Y polarization for a test of the fiber link, wherein the test includes use of different SOP values for corresponding measurements at the receiver to characterize penalties for the different SOP values to determine whether the optical system is operational at the different SOP values,
• wherein the characterized penalties are provided to a network operator and utilized to determine whether the tracking ability supports the fiber link.