The Mathematical Theory Of Communication

Scientific knowledge grows at a phenomenal pace--but few books have had as lasting an impact or played as important a role in our modern world as The Mathematical Theory of Communication, published originally as a paper on communication theory more than fifty years ago. Republished in book form shortly thereafter, it has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings. It is a revolutionary work, astounding in its foresight and contemporaneity. The University of Illinois Press is pleased and honored to issue this commemorative reprinting of a classic.

The general concept of information is here, for the first time, defined mathematically by adding one single axiom to the probability theory. This Mathematical Theory of Information is explored in fourteen chapters: 1. Information can be measured in different units, in anything from bits to dollars. We will here argue that any measure is acceptable if it does not violate the Law of Diminishing Information. This law is supported by two independent arguments: one derived from the Bar-Hillel ideal receiver, the other is based on Shannon's noisy channel. The entropy in the 'classical information theory' is one of the measures conforming to the Law of Diminishing Information, but it has, however, properties such as being symmetric, which makes it unsuitable for some applications. The measure reliability is found to be a universal information measure. 2. For discrete and finite signals, the Law of Diminishing Information is defined mathematically, using probability theory and matrix algebra. 3. The Law of Diminishing Information is used as an axiom to derive essential properties of information. Byron's law: there is more information in a lie than in gibberish. Preservation: no information is lost in a reversible channel. Etc. The Mathematical Theory of Information supports colligation, i. e. the property to bind facts together making 'two plus two greater than four'. Colligation is a must when the information carries knowledge, or is a base for decisions. In such cases, reliability is always a useful information measure. Entropy does not allow colligation.

An important text that offers an in-depth guide to how information theory sets the boundaries for data communication In an accessible and practical style, Information and Communication Theory explores the topic of information theory and includes concrete tools that are appropriate for real-life communication systems. The text investigates the connection between theoretical and practical applications through a wide-variety of topics including an introduction to the basics of probability theory, information, (lossless) source coding, typical sequences as a central concept, channel coding, continuous random variables, Gaussian channels, discrete input continuous channels, and a brief look at rate distortion theory. The author explains the fundamental theory together with typical compression algorithms and how they are used in reality. He moves on to review source coding and how much a source can be compressed, and also explains algorithms such as the LZ family with applications to e.g. zip or png. In addition to exploring the channel coding theorem, the book includes illustrative examples of codes. This comprehensive text: Provides an adaptive version of Huffman coding that estimates source distribution Contains a series of problems that enhance an understanding of information presented in the text Covers a variety of topics including optimal source coding, channel coding, modulation and much more Includes appendices that explore probability distributions and the sampling theorem Written for graduate and undergraduate students studying information theory, as well as professional engineers, master’s students, Information and Communication Theory offers an introduction to how information theory sets the boundaries for data communication.

This volume contains survey and research articles by some of the leading researchers in mathematical systems theory - a vibrant research area in its own right. Many authors have taken special care that their articles are self-contained and accessible also to non-specialists.

Originally developed by Claude Shannon in the 1940s, information theory laid the foundations for the digital revolution, and is now an essential tool in telecommunications, genetics, linguistics, brain sciences, and deep space communication. In this richly illustrated book, accessible examples are used to introduce information theory in terms of everyday games like ‘20 questions’ before more advanced topics are explored. Online MatLab and Python computer programs provide hands-on experience of information theory in action, and PowerPoint slides give support for teaching. Written in an informal style, with a comprehensive glossary and tutorial appendices, this text is an ideal primer for novices who wish to learn the essential principles and applications of information theory.

First comprehensive introduction to information theory explores the work of Shannon, McMillan, Feinstein, and Khinchin. Topics include the entropy concept in probability theory, fundamental theorems, and other subjects. 1957 edition.

Introduction; 1 The information revolution; 2 The language of information; 3 Mathematical information; 4 Semantic information; 5 Physical information; 6 Biological information; 7 Economic information; 8 The ethics of information; Conclusion; References.