Techniques for multiplexing multiple data streams using frequency division multiplexing (FDM) in an OFDM system are described. M disjoint “interlaces” are formed with U usable subbands. Each interlace is a different set of S subbands, where U=M·S. The subbands for each interlace are interlaced with the subbands for each of the other M−1 interlaces. M slots may be defined for each symbol period and assigned slot indices 1 through M. The slot indices may be mapped to interlaces such that (1) frequency diversity is achieved for each slot index and (2) the interlaces used for pilot transmission have varying distances to the interlaces used for each slot index, which improves channel estimation performance. Each data stream may be processed as data packets of a fixed size, and different numbers of slots may be used for each data packet depending on the coding and modulation scheme used for the data packet.