US Patent 7609981 Deliberate signal degradation for optimizing receiver control loops

Techniques to control an optical receiver having a control loop using Bit Error Rate (BER). In one implementation, a bit error rate (BER) associated with a received optical signal is determined. Indication of the BER to a control loop adapted is provided to adjust the optical signal in a manner tending to reduce the BER. The received optical signal is adapted in a manner tending to increase the BER such that the control loop operates within an active control region.