Course overview
The course aims at answering two fundamental questions in data communications: What is the ultimate data compression? What is the ultimate transmission rate of a communication channel? While answering these questions, the basic tools and concepts in information theory are introduced to the students.
Course learning outcomes
- Examine mathematically the notion of information contained in data and the fundamental limits to compress data for efficient storage
- Analyse and compare the roles of redundancy in combating the effect of noise in various communications media
- Develop the connections between information-theoretic schemes and algebraic/convolutional/graph-based schemes for communicating data over discrete memoryless channels
- Examine and derive the operations involved in different encoders and decoders, and be able to compare the advantages and disadvantages of various coding paradigms
- Examine and evaluate advanced literature in the field of information theory and coding
- Use problem-solving and computing skills to analyse and derive efficient means of representation, storage and transmission of information in communications networks