Dual length block codes for multi-band OFDM

The transmitter of claim 3, wherein the number of bits contained by the first block size is a rational multiple of the number of bits contained by the second block size.

A method of communicating, comprising:

• block encoding a first portion of a message according to a multi-band orthogonal frequency division multiplex protocol into a plurality of blocks having a first length;
• and
• block encoding a second portion of the message into one or more blocks having a second length, the second length being less than the first length.

A communication system, including:

• a first transceiver operable, using a first block size to block encode a first portion of a message according to a multi-band orthogonal frequency division multiplex protocol and using a second block size to block encode a second portion of the message, the first transceiver further operable to transmit the message;
• and
• a second transceiver operable to receive the message using a block decoder to decode the first portion of the message based on the first block size and to decode the second portion of the message based on the second block size, wherein the second transceiver distinguishes the first portion of the message from the second portion of the message based on a message length indication provided in the first portion of the message.