Method and apparatus for bit synchronization in optical communication and networking systems

An apparatus for bit synchronization in an optical time division multiplexed communication system, the apparatus couplable to an optical gate, the optical gate couplable to an input data signal, the optical gate providing an output data signal, the apparatus comprising:

• a programmable optical delay line couplable to an input clock;
• an optical synchronizer coupled to the programmable optical delay line and couplable to the optical gate;
• and
• a processor coupled to the programmable optical delay line and to the optical synchronizer, wherein the processor includes program instructions to track bit synchronization between a clock pulse and a selected data bit during a communication session;
• and when a bit tracking range is approaching a predetermined limit, the processor having further instructions to interrupt the communication session, return the bit tracking range to a zero offset and correspondingly adjust timing of the programmable optical delay line, and resume the communication session.