Mathematical Foundations of Computer Networking

9. Information Theory

9.1. Introduction

Communication takes many forms, such as e-mail, advertising on billboards, radio, and TV. Despite these different instantiations, every act of communication involves the same four abstract entities: a message source sending a message to one or more recipients over a communication channel. For example, when two people correspond by e-mail, a message sender sends an e-mail message to a recipient over the Internet. Similarly, an advertiser communicates to a mass audience by displaying a billboard message to passersby. And, with a radio station, a broadcaster sends audio messages to listeners over a radio communication channel.

This suggests that it may be possible to study all forms of communication by using ...