1. A method comprising: (i) partitioning a set of bidirectional access links into subsets, wherein each bidirectional access link comprises an ingress unidirectional link and an egress unidirectional link, and wherein the set of bidirectional access links is part of a packet telecommunication network; (ii) identifying a subset comprising N bidirectional access links, wherein N is a positive integer; (iii) executing, in the packet telecommunication network, 3N tests, T ij , to generate 3N test results, D ij , wherein i and j are integers in the range [1, N], and wherein i and j denote a pair of bidirectional access links being tested from the subset comprising N bidirectional access links; (iv) identifying an invertible matrix, A, of size 2N by 2N; (v) mapping a first half of the rows of A to N ingress unidirectional links from the subset comprising N bidirectional access links, and mapping a second half of the rows of A to N egress unidirectional links from the subset comprising N bidirectional access links; (vi) formulating at least one equation based on the elements of one row of A, wherein the at least one equation interrelates a performance parameter of a unidirectional link with a subset of the 3N test results; (vii) generating at least one estimate of the performance parameter of a unidirectional link based on a solution of the at least one equation; and (viii) operating the packet telecommunication network based on the value of the at least one estimate of the performance parameter of a unidirectional link.