Encoding Schemes in FHE

In cryptography, we need a distinction between a cleartext and a plaintext. A cleartext is a message in its natural form. A plaintext is a cleartext that is represented in a specific way to prepare it for encryption in a specific scheme. The process of taking a cleartext and turning it into a plaintext is called encoding, and the reverse is called decoding. In homomorphic encryption, the distinction matters. Cleartexts are generally all integers, though the bit width of allowed integers can be restricted (e.