A method for data transmission. The method including the steps of generating at least one resource tree, mapping a plurality of resource elements into respective leaf nodes in the at least one resource tree according to a certain mapping scheme, with each node in the at least one resource tree representing a resource allocation scheme for data transmission, and transmitting data using a resource allocation scheme selected from among the plurality of resource allocation schemes represented by respective nodes in the at least one resource tree. In response to reception of the data, a receiver decodes the data by recursively applying the plurality of resource allocation schemes represented by respective nodes in the at least one resource tree until the data is decoded.