An apparatus comprises: a receiver port configured to receive an input signal comprising in-phase and quadrature (IQ) data and control words (CWs); a peak-to-average power (PAPR) reducer coupled to the receiver port and configured to: receive the IQ data, process the IQ data, separate the IQ data into a clipped signal and a peak signal, and determine peak information associated with the peak signal; and a transmitter port coupled to the PAPR reducer and configured to separately transmit the clipped signal and the peak information. A method comprises: receiving an input signal comprising first data and second data; processing the first data; separating the first data into a clipped signal and a peak signal; determining peak information associated with the peak signal; and transmitting the clipped signal and the peak information.