Method for transmitting source encoded digital signals

A method of transmitting encoded digital signals and decoding the digital signals at a receiver, said method comprising the steps of:

• source encoding the digital signals into a plurality of subunits of source encoded digital signals;
• assigning, to each subunit, one of a plurality of differing levels of significance;
• ordering, in a data frame, said subunits in a hierarchical manner in accordance with the level of significance assigned to each of the subunits;
• channel encoding the subunits of source encoded digital signals utilizing a variable rate code, wherein the rate of the code increases for increasing levels of significance assigned to the hierarchically ordered subunits in the data frame;
• transmitting the channel encoded subunits to the receiver;
• correctly channel decoding, utilizing a decoding method at the receiver, a subset of said subunits to produce a correct portion of decoded data, said correct portion being defined by a position of a first error in the data frame, wherein the position of the first error in the data frame is dependent upon at least one of the encoding rate, channel quality, and decoding complexity;
• determining the correct portion of decoded data based on characteristics of the decoding method;
• and
• reconstructing the digital signals using only the correct portion of decoded data.