Fundamentals of Codes, Graphs, and Iterative Decoding

by Stephen B. Wicker, Saejoon Kim

Fundamentals of Codes, Graphs, and Iterative Decoding contains need-to-know information for both professionals and academicians working in the field of communications.
Fifty years of learning how to design good codes can now be reduced to a single sentence: Good codes have a high degree of local connectivity, but must have simple structural descriptions to facilitate iterative decoding.
Fundamentals of Codes, Graphs, and Iterative Decoding is an explanation of how to introduce local connectivity, and how to exploit simple structural descriptions. Chapter 1 provides an overview of Shannon theory and the basic tools of complexity theory, communication theory, and bounds on code construction. Chapters 2 - 4 provide an overview of "classical" error control coding, with an introduction to abstract algebra, and block and convolutional codes. Chapters 5 - 9 then proceed to systematically develop the key research results of the 1990s and early 2000s with an introduction to graph theory, followed by chapters on algorithms on graphs, turbo error control, low density parity check codes, and low density generator codes.
Fundamentals of Codes, Graphs, and Iterative Decoding is intended as a synthesis of recent research results with a recognition of where these results fit into the bigger picture of error control coding.
Containing hundreds of theorems, proofs, and definitions, Fundamentals of Codes, Graphs, and Iterative Decoding is suitable for a graduate-level course in communications, as well as for a professional reference.

243 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2002

Reviews

[Marcin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, easy to follow, fairly explanatory, be it basic math or matrix calculations, most of the information is given rather straightforwardly, yet the authors require of the readers more than basic "1+2=3" knowledge and practice in math. However once you're worthy or at least better prepared, those fundamentals of coding and other aspects presented in the book simply unveil almost all of the secrets. How far into the maths you must be to properly understand all the descriptions? If you're in a college working on a math degree or IT degree, the first year of the studies with math introduction would easily give you the upper hand. Otherwise you might need to jump for other books in search of explanations. Whatever the level of your math skills, I'd still highly suggest taking this book. Without preparation you're going to learn more, but life is made the way you learn a bit every single day, it's how it is... Is it worth your money and time? If you're into the topic, I certainly believe so. After all, it's fairly concise yet informative enough to earn a place on your bookshelf.