One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for determining properties of optical links using the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of integrated amplifiers. To calibrate the system, existing amplifiers in the nodes of the system can be operated in an ASE mode. A bypass switch at the mid-stage of each amplifier routes the ASE from the amplifier's first stage into one or more signal processing components, creating reference signals. Subsequently, the bypass switch routes the reference signals back into the mid-stage of the amplifier. After propagating through a link to the next node in the system, the optical parameters of the reference signals are measured and used to determine properties of the link, such as chromatic dispersion and attenuation. Tunable devices within the two nodes connected by the link may be set to compensate for specific properties of the link, thereby improving the quality of transmitted signals.