Methods and apparatus for monitoring and controlling the performance of optical communication systems

An apparatus, comprising:

• an optical detector configured to detect a first optical signal from an optical component during a first time period;
• and
• a processor operatively coupled to the optical detector, the processor configured to calculate an extinction ratio for the first optical signal,
• the optical detector configured to sample asynchronously a second optical signal from the optical component during a second time period after the first time period,
• the processor configured to calculate a metric value for the second optical signal without an extinction ratio for the second optical signal being calculated, the metric value for the second optical signal being proportional to the extinction ratio for the second optical signal,
• the processor configured to define an error signal based on the metric value for the second optical signal and the extinction ratio for the first optical signal, the processor configured to send the error signal to an optical transmitter such that the optical transmitter modifies an output optical signal in response to the error signal.

A non-transitory processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to be executed by a processor, the code comprising code to cause the processor to:

• receive, from an optical detector configured to sample asynchronously an optical signal from an optical component, an indication associated with the optical signal;
• calculate, based on the indication associated with the optical signal, a metric value of the optical signal without an extinction ratio of the optical signal being calculated, the metric value being proportional to the extinction ratio of the optical signal;
• calculate a calibration value associated with the indication associated with the optical signal;
• define an error signal based on the calibration value and the metric value of the optical signal;
• and
• send the error signal to an optical transmitter such that the optical transmitter modifies an output optical signal in response to the error signal.