A transceiver comprises: a sampling phase optimization stage comprising: a first interpolator; a first equalizer coupled to the first interpolator; a first optimizer coupled to the first equalizer; and an output; and an equalization stage coupled to the output and comprising: a buffer; a second interpolator coupled to the buffer; and a second equalizer coupled to the second interpolator. A method comprising: receiving an optical burst signal; determining an optimum sampling phase based on a portion of a digital signal representing the optical burst signal; and equalizing all of the digital signal using the optimum sampling phase.