A method for hierarchical communication of a set of source data includes: receiving source data representing content to be communicated to a data terminal; pre-coding at least some of the source data using pre-coding schemes to generate sets of representation data; associating the sets of representation data with coding and modulation schemes; generating transmissions by applying the coding and modulation schemes to the sets of representation data; transmitting a first transmission to the data terminal on a first communication link; and transmitting a second transmission to the data terminal on a second communication link, wherein the second communication link differs from the first communication link.