A Student's Guide to Coding and Information Theory

This easy-to-read guide provides a concise introduction to the engineering background of modern communication systems, from mobile phones to data compression and storage. Background mathematics and specific engineering techniques are kept to a minimum so that only a basic knowledge of high-school mathematics is needed to understand the material covered. The authors begin with many practical applications in coding, including the repetition code, the Hamming code and the Huffman code. They then explain the corresponding information theory, from entropy and mutual information to channel capacity and the information transmission theorem. Finally, they provide insights into the connections between coding theory and other fields. Many worked examples are given throughout the book, using practical applications to illustrate theoretical definitions. Exercises are also included, enabling readers to double-check what they have learned and gain glimpses into more advanced topics, making this perfect for anyone who needs a quick introduction to the subject.

Stefan M. Moser received the diploma (MSc) in Electrical Engineering (with distinction) in 1999, an MSc in Industrial Management in 2003 and a PhD (Dr. sc. techn.) in the field of information theory in 2004, all from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. During 1999 to 2003, he was a Research and Teaching Assistant, and from 2004 to 2005, he was a Senior Research Assistant with the Signal and Information Processing Laboratory, ETH Zurich. Since 2005, he has been an Assistant Professor, and since 2008, an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chiao Tung University (NCTU), Hsinchu, Taiwan. His research interests are in information theory and digital communications. Dr Moser received the Best Paper Award for Young Scholars by the IEEE Communications Society, Taipei and Tainan Chapters, and the IEEE Information Theory Society, Taipei Chapter, in 2009. Other awards include the NCTU Distinguished Faculty Award (2011), the NCTU Outstanding Researchers Award (2007, 2008 and 2009), the NCTU Excellent Teaching Award and NCTU Outstanding Mentoring Award (both 2007), the Willi Studer Award of ETH (1999), the ETH Medal for an excellent diploma thesis (1999) and the Sandoz (Novartis) Basler Maturandenpreis (1993). Po-Ning Chen is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). Amongst his awards, he has received the 2000 Young Scholar Paper Award from Academia Sinica. He was also selected as the Outstanding Tutor Teacher of NCTU in 2002 and he received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2003.