Communication standards

Items	HD-FEC	SD-FEC
Definition	Decoding based on hard-bits(the output is quantized only to two levels) is called the “HD(hard-decision) decoding”, where each bit is considered definitely one or zero.	Decoding based on soft-bits(the output is quantized to more than two levels) is called the “SD(soft-decision) decoding”, where not only one or zero decision but also confidence information for the decision are provided.
Application	Generally for non-coherent detection optical systems, e.g., 10 Gbit/s, 40 Gbit/s, also for some coherent detection optical systems with higher OSNR	coherent detection optical systems, e.g., 100 Gbit/s,400 Gbit/s.
Electronics Requirement	ADC(Analogue-to-Digital Converter) is not necessary in the receiver.	ADC is required in the receiver to provide soft information, e.g., coherent detection optical systems.
specification	general FEC per [ITU-T G.975];super FEC per [ITU-T G.975.1].	vendor specific
typical scheme	Concatenated RS/BCH	LDPC(Low density parity check),TPC(Turbo product code)
complexity	medium	high
redundancy ratio	generally 7%	around 20%
NCG	about 5.6 dB for general FEC;>8.0 dB for super FEC.	>10.0 dB
Example(If you asked your friend about traffic jam status on roads and he replies)	maybe fully jammed or free	50-50 but I found othe way free or less traffic