Integrated 2-level low density parity check (LDPC) codes

An apparatus comprising:

• a first error-detecting code encoder module configured to apply an error-detecting code to first input data to generate first protected data;
• a second error-detecting code encoder module configured to apply the error-detecting code to second input data to generate second protected data;
• a first low density parity check (LDPC) module configured to generate a first encoded codeword by encoding the first protected data using a first LDPC code;
• an exclusive-or module configured to generate an output by performing a binary exclusive-or operation on (i) the first protected data and (ii) the second protected data;
• a second LDPC module configured to generate a second encoded codeword by encoding the output of the exclusive-or module using a second LDPC code;
• and
• a multiplexer module configured to transmit data over a communications channel based on (i) the first encoded codeword and (ii) the second encoded codeword.