A method for generating a physical layer, PHY, data unit for transmission by a communication device via a communication channel, the method comprising: receiving, by the communication device, a plurality of information bits to be included in the PHY data unit; determining, by the communication device, a maximum number of information bits that can be encoded such that, after the plurality of information bits have been encoded using i) a forward error correction scheme corresponding to a modulation and coding scheme, selected from a set of modulation and coding schemes corresponding to different coding rates, to obtain coded information bits, ii) a block coding scheme, corresponding to a number of repetitions of the coded information bits, to obtain block coded bits from the coded information bits, and iii) a puncturing scheme to obtain punctured bits from the block coded bits, the punctured bits fit within a single orthogonal frequency division multiplex, OFDM, symbol on the communication channel, wherein the maximum number of information bits is determined as N DBPS = ⌈ N SD ⋅ R n ⌉ with N DBPS as the maximum number of information bits, N SD as the number of data tones of the single OFDM symbol, R as a coding rate of the forward error correction scheme corresponding to the selected modulation and coding scheme, and n as the number of repetitions of the coded information bits to be generated by the block coding scheme, and where ┌ ┐ represents the integer ceiling function, and the number of the block coded bits is determined as n·N DBPs / R; at least some of the plurality of information bits corresponding to the punctured bits have a different number of repetitions; encoding, by the communication device, the plurality of information bits with the maximum number of information bits using the forward error correction scheme, the block coding scheme, and the puncturing scheme to generate the punctured bits; and generating, by the communication device, the PHY data unit to include the punctured bits in the single OFDM symbol. receiving, by the communication device, a plurality of information bits to be included in the PHY data unit; determining, by the communication device, a maximum number of information bits that can be encoded such that, after the plurality of information bits have been encoded using i) a forward error correction scheme corresponding to a modulation and coding scheme, selected from a set of modulation and coding schemes corresponding to different coding rates, to obtain coded information bits, ii) a block coding scheme, corresponding to a number of repetitions of the coded information bits, to obtain block coded bits from the coded information bits, and iii) a puncturing scheme to obtain punctured bits from the block coded bits, the punctured bits fit within a single orthogonal frequency division multiplex, OFDM, symbol on the communication channel, wherein the maximum number of information bits is determined as N DBPS = ⌈ N SD ⋅ R n ⌉ with N DBPS as the maximum number of information bits, N SD as the number of data tones of the single OFDM symbol, R as a coding rate of the forward error correction scheme corresponding to the selected modulation and coding scheme, and n as the number of repetitions of the coded information bits to be generated by the block coding scheme, and where ┌ ┐ represents the integer ceiling function, and the number of the block coded bits is determined as n·N DBPs / R; at least some of the plurality of information bits corresponding to the punctured bits have a different number of repetitions; with N DBPS as the maximum number of information bits, N SD as the number of data tones of the single OFDM symbol, R as a coding rate of the forward error correction scheme corresponding to the selected modulation and coding scheme, and n as the number of repetitions of the coded information bits to be generated by the block coding scheme, and where ┌ ┐ represents the integer ceiling function, and the number of the block coded bits is determined as n·N DBPs / R; at least some of the plurality of information bits corresponding to the punctured bits have a different number of repetitions; encoding, by the communication device, the plurality of information bits with the maximum number of information bits using the forward error correction scheme, the block coding scheme, and the puncturing scheme to generate the punctured bits; and generating, by the communication device, the PHY data unit to include the punctured bits in the single OFDM symbol.