Mathematics For Future Computing And Communications

A panorama of new ideas in mathematics that are driving innovation in computing and communications.

Presents basic theory for graduate students and researchers with applications in circuit and proof complexity, streaming algorithms and distributed computing.

Original essays by world-leading researchers reveal Alan Turing's lasting contributions to modern research.

This book traces the origins of the present information technology revolution, the technological features that underlie its impact, the organisations, the companies and technologies which are governing the current and future growth. It explains how the technology works, how it fits together, how the industry is structured and what the future might bring.

Nine revolutionary algorithms that power our computers and smartphones Every day, we use our computers to perform remarkable feats. A simple web search picks out a handful of relevant needles from the world's biggest haystack. Uploading a photo to Facebook transmits millions of pieces of information over numerous error-prone network links, yet somehow a perfect copy of the photo arrives intact. Without even knowing it, we use public-key cryptography to transmit secret information like credit card numbers, and we use digital signatures to verify the identity of the websites we visit. How do our computers perform these tasks with such ease? John MacCormick answers this question in language anyone can understand, using vivid examples to explain the fundamental tricks behind nine computer algorithms that power our PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

Algorithmic discrete mathematics plays a key role in the development of information and communication technologies, and methods that arise in computer science, mathematics and operations research – in particular in algorithms, computational complexity, distributed computing and optimization – are vital to modern services such as mobile telephony, online banking and VoIP. This book examines communication networking from a mathematical viewpoint. The contributing authors took part in the European COST action 293 – a four-year program of multidisciplinary research on this subject. In this book they offer introductory overviews and state-of-the-art assessments of current and future research in the fields of broadband, optical, wireless and ad hoc networks. Particular topics of interest are design, optimization, robustness and energy consumption. The book will be of interest to graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the areas of networking, theoretical computer science, operations research, distributed computing and mathematics.

“To design future networks that are worthy of society’s trust, we must put the ‘discipline’ of computer networking on a much stronger foundation. This book rises above the considerable minutiae of today’s networking technologies to emphasize the long-standing mathematical underpinnings of the field.” –Professor Jennifer Rexford, Department of Computer Science, Princeton University “This book is exactly the one I have been waiting for the last couple of years. Recently, I decided most students were already very familiar with the way the net works but were not being taught the fundamentals–the math. This book contains the knowledge for people who will create and understand future communications systems." –Professor Jon Crowcroft, The Computer Laboratory, University of Cambridge The Essential Mathematical Principles Required to Design, Implement, or Evaluate Advanced Computer Networks Students, researchers, and professionals in computer networking require a firm conceptual understanding of its foundations. Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking provides an intuitive yet rigorous introduction to these essential mathematical principles and techniques. Assuming a basic grasp of calculus, this book offers sufficient detail to serve as the only reference many readers will need. Each concept is described in four ways: intuitively; using appropriate mathematical notation; with a numerical example carefully chosen for its relevance to networking; and with a numerical exercise for the reader. The first part of the text presents basic concepts, and the second part introduces four theories in a progression that has been designed to gradually deepen readers’ understanding. Within each part, chapters are as self-contained as possible. The first part covers probability; statistics; linear algebra; optimization; and signals, systems, and transforms. Topics range from Bayesian networks to hypothesis testing, and eigenvalue computation to Fourier transforms. These preliminary chapters establish a basis for the four theories covered in the second part of the book: queueing theory, game theory, control theory, and information theory. The second part also demonstrates how mathematical concepts can be applied to issues such as contention for limited resources, and the optimization of network responsiveness, stability, and throughput.