A First Course In Digital Communications

A concise introduction to the core concepts in digital communication, providing clarity and depth through examples, problems and MATLAB exercises. Its simple structure maps a logical route to understand the most basic principles in digital communication, and also leads students through more in-depth treatment with examples and step-by step instructions.

A comprehensive text that takes a unique top-down approach to teaching the fundamentals of digital communication for a one-semester course.

This is a concise presentation of the concepts underlying the design of digital communication systems, without the detail that can overwhelm students. Many examples, from the basic to the cutting-edge, show how the theory is used in the design of modern systems and the relevance of this theory will motivate students. The theory is supported by practical algorithms so that the student can perform computations and simulations. Leading edge topics in coding and wireless communication make this an ideal text for students taking just one course on the subject. Fundamentals of Digital Communications has coverage of turbo and LDPC codes in sufficient detail and clarity to enable hands-on implementation and performance evaluation, as well as 'just enough' information theory to enable computation of performance benchmarks to compare them against. Other unique features include space-time communication and geometric insights into noncoherent communication and equalization.

The renowned communications theorist Robert Gallager brings his lucid writing style to the study of the fundamental system aspects of digital communication for a one-semester course for graduate students. With the clarity and insight that have characterized his teaching and earlier textbooks, he develops a simple framework and then combines this with careful proofs to help the reader understand modern systems and simplified models in an intuitive yet precise way. A strong narrative and links between theory and practice reinforce this concise, practical presentation. The book begins with data compression for arbitrary sources. Gallager then describes how to modulate the resulting binary data for transmission over wires, cables, optical fibers, and wireless channels. Analysis and intuitive interpretations are developed for channel noise models, followed by coverage of the principles of detection, coding, and decoding. The various concepts covered are brought together in a description of wireless communication, using CDMA as a case study.

Providing the underlying principles of digital communication and the design techniques of real-world systems, this textbook prepares senior undergraduate and graduate students for the engineering practices required in industry. Covering the core concepts, including modulation, demodulation, equalization, and channel coding, it provides step-by-step mathematical derivations to aid understanding of background material. In addition to describing the basic theory, the principles of system and subsystem design are introduced, enabling students to visualize the intricate connections between subsystems and understand how each aspect of the design supports the overall goal of achieving reliable communications. Throughout the book, theories are linked to practical applications with over 250 real-world examples, whilst 370 varied homework problems in three levels of difficulty enhance and extend the text material. With this textbook, students can understand how digital communication systems operate in the real world, learn how to design subsystems, and evaluate end-to-end performance with ease and confidence.

This text takes an integrated approach toward communications, with little dichotomy between Analogue and Digital. Studies of telecommunications in undergraduate Engineering education were traditionally analogue. In fact, until the late 1960s, very few schools were teaching digital communication concepts to undergraduates. As digital communications rapidly replaced analogue communications during the 1970s and 1980s, some universities attempted to keep up with the times by incorporating some digital communications into a first course in communications. Others proposed separate courses dealing with digital communications, often with analogue communications as the prerequisite.