OpenFEC error marking

1. A circuit configured to:

receive blocks of data that has been Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoded via Open Forward Error Correction (OFEC) adaptation,

decode the blocks of data,

process Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) data that is included in padding data required in the OFEC adaptation, wherein the padding data is distributed across N rows of payload data, and

determine a location of any errors in the payload data based on the processed CRC data.

2. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein a second circuit is configured to perform the OFEC adaptation and distribute the CRC data across the N rows with the padding data, prior to the blocks being received.

3. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the circuit is further configured to mark Ethernet frames with an error code based on the post-FEC error location.

4. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the circuit is further configured to utilize the CRC data to assist in FEC convergence.

5. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the padding data includes M bits that are spread across the N rows thereby having M/N padding bits for each distributed location, and wherein the M/N padding bits include X CRC bits and Y pad bits.

6. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the N rows include any of 29 rows, 14.5 rows, and 7.25 rows.

7. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the CRC data is utilized in an interleaved manner.

8. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the OFEC adaptation is for mapping the blocks of data into any of a FlexO frame structure, a ZR frame structure, and variants thereof.

9. The circuit of claim 1 , wherein the OFEC adaptation includes a plurality of modes including a 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM) mode, an 8-QAM mode, and a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) mode using 116, 87, and 58 rows, respectively, in the payload data.

10. The circuit of claim 9 , wherein the padding data is distributed across 29 rows for each of the plurality of modes.

11. A method comprising

receiving blocks of data that has been Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoded via Open Forward Error Correction (OFEC) adaptation;

decoding the blocks of data;

processing Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) data that is included in padding data required in the OFEC adaptation, wherein the padding data is distributed across N rows of payload data; and

determining a location of any errors in the payload data based on the processed CRC data.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising

performing the OFEC adaptation and distributing the CRC data across the N rows with the padding data, prior to the receiving.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising

marking Ethernet frames with an error code based on the post-FEC error location.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising

utilizing the CRC data to assist in FEC convergence.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the padding data includes M bits that are spread across the N rows thereby having M/N padding bits for each distributed location, and wherein the M/N padding bits include X CRC bits and Y pad bits.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the N rows include any of 29 rows, 14.5 rows, and 7.25 rows.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the CRC data is utilized in an interleaved manner.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the OFEC adaptation is for mapping the blocks of data into any of a FlexO-x frame structure, a ZR frame, and variants thereof.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the OFEC adaptation includes a plurality of modes including a 16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM) mode, an 8-QAM mode, and a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) mode using 116, 87, and 58 rows, respectively, in the payload data.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the padding data is distributed across 29 rows for each of the plurality of modes.