Through the use of a variable state length initialization, both the transmitter and the receiver can have control of the length of one or more initialization states. The neuron circuit includes an input control circuit, a chargedischarge circuit and an output control circuit. A pattern of voids is then cut into the masking material by a laser engraving process which exposes portions of the substrate surface. The LDPC code employed in accordance with such LDPC encoding may have a partial-tree like structure.