An apparatus and method for receiving and transmitting data is disclosed. In one exemplary embodiment, the method includes: controlling a data source output source frames at a first data rate; receiving a source frame at an encoder at the first data rate; reading a fixed number of n-byte data blocks from the source frame, wherein n is an integer; appending an (m-n)-byte parity block to each n-byte data block to form the fixed number of m-byte first code words, wherein m is an integer greater than n; prepending to the fixed number of m-byte first code words a first prefix to form an error correcting physical frame, the first prefix including an error correction indicator set to a first value and an extra data indicator set to a second value; and transmitting the error correcting physical frame at a fixed transmit data rate.