A First Course In Coding Theory

Algebraic coding theory is a new and rapidly developing subject, popular for its many practical applications and for its fascinatingly rich mathematical structure. This book provides an elementary yet rigorous introduction to the theory of error-correcting codes. Based on courses given by the author over several years to advanced undergraduates and first-year graduated students, this guide includes a large number of exercises, all with solutions, making the book highly suitable for individual study.

Coding theory is concerned with successfully transmitting data through a noisy channel and correcting errors in corrupted messages. It is of central importance for many applications in computer science or engineering. This book gives a comprehensive introduction to coding theory whilst only assuming basic linear algebra. It contains a detailed and rigorous introduction to the theory of block codes and moves on to more advanced topics like BCH codes, Goppa codes and Sudan's algorithm for list decoding. The issues of bounds and decoding, essential to the design of good codes, features prominently. The authors of this book have, for several years, successfully taught a course on coding theory to students at the National University of Singapore. This book is based on their experiences and provides a thoroughly modern introduction to the subject. There are numerous examples and exercises, some of which introduce students to novel or more advanced material.

This book provides an up-to-date introduction to information theory. In addition to the classical topics discussed, it provides the first comprehensive treatment of the theory of I-Measure, network coding theory, Shannon and non-Shannon type information inequalities, and a relation between entropy and group theory. ITIP, a software package for proving information inequalities, is also included. With a large number of examples, illustrations, and original problems, this book is excellent as a textbook or reference book for a senior or graduate level course on the subject, as well as a reference for researchers in related fields.

Coding theory came into existence in the late 1940s and is concerned with devising efficient encoding and decoding procedures. The book is intended as a principal text for first courses in coding and algebraic coding theory, and is aimed at advanced undergraduates and recent graduates as both a course and self-study text. BCH and cyclic, Group codes, Hamming codes, polynomial as well as many other codes are introduced in this textbook. Incorporating numerous worked examples and complete logical proofs, it is an ideal introduction to the fundamental of algebraic coding.

Publisher description

Coding theory is still a young subject. One can safely say that it was born in 1948. It is not surprising that it has not yet become a fixed topic in the curriculum of most universities. On the other hand, it is obvious that discrete mathematics is rapidly growing in importance. The growing need for mathe maticians and computer scientists in industry will lead to an increase in courses offered in the area of discrete mathematics. One of the most suitable and fascinating is, indeed, coding theory. So, it is not surprising that one more book on this subject now appears. However, a little more justification of the book are necessary. A few years ago it was and a little more history remarked at a meeting on coding theory that there was no book available an introductory course on coding theory (mainly which could be used for for mathematicians but also for students in engineering or computer science). The best known textbooks were either too old, too big, too technical, too much for specialists, etc. The final remark was that my Springer Lecture Notes (# 201) were slightly obsolete and out of print. Without realizing what I was getting into I announced that the statement was not true and proved this by showing several participants the book Inleiding in de Coderingstheorie, a little book based on the syllabus of a course given at the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam in 1975 (M. C. Syllabus 31).

The Mathematical Theory of Coding focuses on the application of algebraic and combinatoric methods to the coding theory, including linear transformations, vector spaces, and combinatorics. The publication first offers information on finite fields and coding theory and combinatorial constructions and coding. Discussions focus on self-dual and quasicyclic codes, quadratic residues and codes, balanced incomplete block designs and codes, bounds on code dictionaries, code invariance under permutation groups, and linear transformations of vector spaces over finite fields. The text then takes a look at coding and combinatorics and the structure of semisimple rings. Topics include structure of cyclic codes and semisimple rings, group algebra and group characters, rings, ideals, and the minimum condition, chains and chain groups, dual chain groups, and matroids, graphs, and coding. The book ponders on group representations and group codes for the Gaussian channel, including distance properties of group codes, initial vector problem, modules, group algebras, andrepresentations, orthogonality relationships and properties of group characters, and representation of groups. The manuscript is a valuable source of data for mathematicians and researchers interested in the mathematical theory of coding.

This text is an elementary introduction to information and coding theory. The first part focuses on information theory, covering uniquely decodable and instantaneous codes, Huffman coding, entropy, information channels, and Shannon’s Fundamental Theorem. In the second part, linear algebra is used to construct examples of such codes, such as the Hamming, Hadamard, Golay and Reed-Muller codes. Contains proofs, worked examples, and exercises.