Prior to transmission, data bits are arranged into matrices having blocks sized in accordance with a size or rate of an error burst. The matrices are arranged into an ordered set having first and second dimensions. One or more sets of check bits are generated for each block of data bits. At least one set of first check bits relates to the first dimension, and at least one set of second check bits relates to said second dimension. The ordered set of matrices is transmitted across a transmission channel and received at a decoder-corrector. One or more errors in data bits of the ordered set of matrices are detected and corrected, by the decoder-corrector, based on the check bits.