Provided is an apparatus and method for transmitting data over a communication channel having at least one physical lane for transmitting data. The apparatus includes, for each physical lane, allocation circuitry configured for allocating data in logical lanes corresponding to the physical lane. The apparatus also includes, for each physical lane, a multiplexer configured for bit-interleaving the data from the logical lanes corresponding to the physical lane into interleaved data for transmission over the physical lane. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, for each physical lane, the allocation circuitry is configured for allocating the data such that the interleaved data for transmission over the physical lane has clusters of sequential bits of the same symbol. Thus, upon transmission and reception by a receiver, any correlated errors affecting sequential bits may affect fewer symbols. Also provided is an apparatus and method for receiving data in a complementary manner.