Various embodiments are described to provide for the transmission and reception of data in an improved manner. Data transmission is improved by including in a transmitter a null generator (110) to generate an output data symbol sequence that exhibits nulls in the frequency domain at particular frequencies that an input data symbol sequence does not. A pilot inserter (120) then adds a pilot symbol sequence to this output data symbol sequence to create a combined symbol sequence. Since the pilot symbol sequence exhibits pilot signals corresponding to the nulls of the output data symbol sequence in the frequency domain, the combined symbol sequence exhibits pilots that are orthogonal to the data in the frequency domain.