Digital Communication Systems

Preface

The study of digital communications is an essential element of the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of present-day electrical and computer engineering programs. This book is appropriate for both levels.

A Tour of the Book

The introductory chapter is motivational, beginning with a brief history of digital communications, and continuing with sections on the communication process, digital communications, multiple-access and multiplexing techniques, and the Internet. Four themes organize the remaining nine chapters of the book.

Theme 1   Mathematics of Digital Communications

The first theme of the book provides a detailed exposé of the mathematical underpinnings of digital communications, with continuous mathematics aimed at the communication channel and interfering signals, and discrete mathematics aimed at the transmitter and receiver:

• Chapter 2, Fourier Analysis of Signals and Systems, lays down the fundamentals for the representation of signals and linear time-invariant systems, as well as analog modulation theory.
• Chapter 3, Probability Theory and Bayesian Inference, presents the underlying mathematics for dealing with uncertainty and the Bayesian paradigm for probabilistic reasoning.
• Chapter 4, Stochastic Processes, focuses on weakly or wide-sense stationary processes, their statistical properties, and their roles in formulating models for Poisson, Gaussian, Rayleigh, and Rician distributions.
• Chapter 5, Information Theory, presents the notions of entropy and mutual ...