Patent ID: 7881572

Claim:
A system, comprising: an optical fiber pathway; a transmitter disposed at a first end of the optical fiber pathway and configured to provide an optical test signal for propagation along the optical fiber pathway; a receiver disposed downstream from the transmitter along the optical fiber pathway and configured to receive the optical test signal that has been propagated along the optical fiber pathway; a variable optical attenuator disposed between the transmitter and receiver on the optical fiber pathway and configured to attenuate a strength of the optical test signal; and a computing device communicatively coupled to the transmitter, receiver, and variable optical attenuator and configured to monitor at least one channel of the optical fiber pathway other than a channel by which the optical test signal is propagated, identify effects of the optical test signal on the at least one channel, and direct adjustment of an attenuation level imposed on the optical test signal by the variable optical attenuator.