An ordered number sequence may be determined based on an ordered sub-channel sequence specifying an order of N sub-channels that are defined by a code and that have associated reliabilities for input bits at N input bit positions. The ordered number sequence represents the ordered sub-channel sequence as a sequence of fewer than N numbers. The numbers in the ordered number sequence indicate the sub-channels, by representing numbers of the sub-channels for example, from different subsets of the N sub-channels, that appear in the order specified by the ordered sub-channel sequence. Using ordered number sequences, longer ordered sub-channel sequences could be constructed from smaller ordered sub-channel sequences, and/or sub-channels that to be selected from a longer ordered sub-channel sequence could be divided into two or more parts, with each part to be selected from shorter ordered sub-channel sequences.