A method and apparatus for providing layer-independent secure network communication is provided. Because N is no longer an integral power of 2, b takes a fractional value, resulting in a fractional-bit system. The filtering is accomplished by a linear filter that performs a beamforming for reducing the noise and another linear filter that solves a source separation problem by selecting time-frequency points where, according to a W-disjoint orthogonality assumption, only one source is active. The period of the input signal and the phase difference between the input signal and the delayed input signal are used to construct an output signal.