Patent ID: 7911950

Claim:
A method of controlling data rates, the method comprising: performing a first autonegotiation procedure between a first device and a second device at a first data rate, at least one of the first device and the second device comprising an optical interface; transferring, after the first autonegotiation procedure, first data between the first device and the second device at a second data rate that is higher than the first data rate, the second data rate being a non-standard data rate; determining whether a bit error rate attained at the second data rate exceeds a predetermined threshold; altering a data rate when it is determined that the bit error rate attained at the second data rate exceeds the predetermined threshold, wherein the altering step comprises reducing the data rate to a third data rate that is lower than the second data rate and higher than the first data rate; determining whether a bit error rate attained at the third data rate exceeds the predetermined threshold; and reducing the data rate to a fourth data rate when it is determined that the bit error rate attained at the third data rate exceeds the predetermined threshold.