Basic Concepts in Information Theory and Coding is an outgrowth of a one semester introductory course that has been taught at the University of Southern California since the mid-1960s. Lecture notes from that course have evolved in response to student reaction, new technological and theoretical develop ments, and the insights of faculty members who have taught the course (in cluding the three of us). In presenting this material, we have made it accessible to a broad audience by limiting prerequisites to basic calculus and the ele mentary concepts of discrete probability theory. To keep the...

Basic Concepts in Information Theory and Coding is an outgrowth of a one semester introductory course that has been taught at the University of Southern California since the mid-1960s. Lecture notes from that course have evolved in response to student reaction, new technological and theoretical develop ments, and the insights of faculty members who have taught the course (in cluding the three of us). In presenting this material, we have made it accessible to a broad audience by limiting prerequisites to basic calculus and the ele mentary concepts of discrete probability theory. To keep the...