An Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON) is an emerging access network technology that provides low-cost methods of deploying optical access lines between a carrier's Central Office (CO) and a customer site.  EPONs seek to bring forth a full-service access network that delivers data, video, and voice over a single optical access system. 
Optional Forward Error Correction (FEC) methods are used to improve communication reliabilities in error prone environments.  In a 10 Gb/s EPON system, there is a demand for use of FEC.  In an FEC process, an EPON frame may be encapsulated into an FEC frame carrying parity and other FEC bits.  Use of an FEC results in an increased link budget, which enables higher bit rates, longer optical terminal to optical network unit distances, as well as higher split ratios for a single Passive Optical Network (PON) tree. 
A general consensus of the industry is that an FEC method should have the following properties: 64 b66 b code should be unchanged; line rate should be unchanged; and systematic block FEC codes should be used. 
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus that provides FEC satisfying all the criterion described above in a 66 b system.