Abstract: A system and method are provided for controlling mastership among multiple devices in a fault tolerant manner. The devices may be configured to transmit and receive redundant heartbeat signals to indicate the mastership state of the device. The signals may operate in a plurality of configurations including active-master, ready and not-ready. By detecting the signal configuration sent from the other devices, each device is capable of managing its own transitions into and out of mastership in order to ensure that there is one and only one device functioning as master.

Abstract: Systems and methods for achieving eye safety of an optical transceiver are provided. An optical module can be configured to output a first optical signal. A first photodetector can be configured to output a signal indicative of a presence or absence of a second optical signal. A controller can be coupled to the optical module and the first photodetector and can be configured to control the output of the optical module. In response to a determination that an output of the first photodetector indicates the second optical signal is absent, the controller can control the optical module to output the first signal at a decreased average optical power. In response to a determination that an output of the first photodetector indicates the second optical signal is present, the controller can control the optical module to output the first signal at an increased average optical power.