Q margin

1. A method comprising:

receiving at least one of a plurality of forward error correcting (FEC) codeblocks transmitted across an optical link; wherein each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks correspond to a portion of data bits provided to the FEC in a given time interval;

measuring a bit error rate (BER) for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks;

determining a Q margin by comparing the measured BER for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks with a FEC threshold; wherein the FEC threshold corresponds to the maximum amount of errors per FEC codeblock that the FEC is able to correct;

storing the Q margin for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; and

reporting each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks and an associated measured BER when the Q margin exceeds the FEC threshold for any of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; wherein if the Q margin for any one of the plurality of FEC codeblocks exceeds the FEC threshold each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks is discarded.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a maximum measured BER; wherein a plurality of BERs are measured for a set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; wherein the maximum BER is the largest of the plurality of measured BER for the set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks;

determining a max BER Q margin;

storing the max BER Q margin; and

reporting the max BER Q margin to enable determination on whether an FEC codeblock had an unacceptable amount of error.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of data is data converted from an optical signal.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the FEC threshold further corresponds to the amount of errors that may be removed; where the errors include errors introduced during transmission of the optical signal.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the FEC includes a decoder on a receiver portion of a second transceiver; and the decoder decodes a signal encoded by an encoder of the FEC on a transmitter portion of a first transceiver.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the optical signal is transmitted from the transmitter portion of a first transceiver to the receiver portion of the second transceiver.

7. An ASIC chip comprising

Forward Error Correction; and

logic enabling:

receiving at least one of a plurality of FEC codeblocks transmitted across an optical link; wherein each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks correspond to a portion of data bits provided to the FEC in a given time interval;

measuring a bit error rate (BER) for each of a plurality of FED codeblocks;

determining a Q margin by comparing the measured BER for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks with an FEC threshold; wherein the FEC threshold corresponds to the maximum amount of errors per FEC codeblock that the FEC is able to correct;

storing the Q margin for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; and

reporting each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks and an associated measured BER when the Q margin exceeds the FEC threshold; wherein if the Q margin for any one of the plurality of FEC codeblocks exceeds the FEC threshold each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks is discarded.

8. The ASIC chip of claim 7 , wherein the logic further enables:

determining a maximum measured BER; wherein a plurality of BERs are measured for a set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; wherein the maximum BER is the largest of the plurality of measured BER for the set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks;

determining a max BER Q margin;

storing the max BER Q margin; and

reporting the max BER Q margin to enable determination on whether an FEC codeblock had an unacceptable amount of error.

9. The ASIC chip of claim 7 , wherein the amount of data is data converted from an optical signal.

10. The ASIC chip of claim 9 , wherein the FEC threshold further corresponds to the amount of errors that may be removed; where the errors include errors introduced during transmission of the optical signal.

11. The ASIC chip of claim 10 , wherein the FEC includes a decoder on a receiver portion of a second transceiver;

wherein the logic further enables the decoder decodes a signal encoded by an encoder of a transmitter FEC on a transmitter portion of a first transceiver.

12. The ASIC chip of claim 11 wherein the optical signal is transmitted from the transmitter portion of a first transceiver to the receiver portion of the second transceiver.

13. A system comprising:

a first transceiver with an ASIC; wherein the first transceiver ASIC has a first FEC;

and a second transceiver with an ASIC; wherein the second transceiver ASIC has a second FEC; and

logic enabling:

transmission of at least one of a plurality of FEC codeblocks across an optical link; wherein each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks correspond to a portion of data bits provided to the FEC in a given time interval;

measuring a bit error rate (BER) for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks;

determining a Q margin by comparing the measured BER for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks with an FEC threshold; wherein the FEC threshold corresponds to the maximum amount of errors per FEC codeblock that the FEC is able to correct;

storing the Q margin for each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; and

reporting each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks and an associated measured BER when the Q margin exceeds the FEC threshold; wherein if the Q margin for any one of the plurality of FEC codeblocks exceeds the FEC threshold each of the plurality of FEC codeblocks is discarded.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the logic further enables:

determining a maximum measured BER; wherein a plurality of BERs are measured for a set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks; wherein the maximum BER is the largest of the plurality of measured BER for the set of the plurality of FEC codeblocks;

determining a max BER Q margin;

storing the max BER Q margin; and

reporting the max BER Q margin to enable determination on whether an FEC codeblock had an unacceptable amount of error.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the amount of data is data converted from an optical signal.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the optical signal is transmitted from the first transceiver to the second transceiver.