Modern Coding Theory

Having trouble deciding which coding scheme to employ, how to design a new scheme, or how to improve an existing system? This summary of the state-of-the-art in iterative coding makes this decision more straightforward. With emphasis on the underlying theory, techniques to analyse and design practical iterative coding systems are presented. Using Gallager's original ensemble of LDPC codes, the basic concepts are extended for several general codes, including the practically important class of turbo codes. The simplicity of the binary erasure channel is exploited to develop analytical techniques and intuition, which are then applied to general channel models. A chapter on factor graphs helps to unify the important topics of information theory, coding and communication theory. Covering the most recent advances, this text is ideal for graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science, and practitioners. Additional resources, including instructor's solutions and figures, available online: www.cambridge.org/9780521852296. Having trouble deciding which coding scheme to employ, how to design a new scheme, or how to improve an existing system? This summary of the state-of-the-art in iterative coding makes this decision more straightforward. With emphasis on the underlying theory, techniques to analyse and design practical iterative coding systems are presented. Using Gallager's original ensemble of LDPC codes, the basic concepts are extended for several general codes, including the practically important class of turbo codes. The simplicity of the binary erasure channel is exploited to develop analytical techniques and intuition, which are then applied to general channel models. A chapter on factor graphs helps to unify the important topics of information theory, coding and communication theory. Covering the most recent advances, this text is ideal for graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science, and practitioners. Additional resources, including instructor's solutions and figures, available (http://www.cambridge.org/9780521852296) www.cambridge.org/9780521852296 . "Iterative techniques have revolutionized the theory and practice of coding and have been adopted in the majority of next generation communications standards. Modern Coding Theory summarizes the state-of-the-art in iterative coding, with particular emphasis on the underlying theory. Using Gallager's original ensemble of LDPC codes as a representative example, focus is placed on the techniques to analyze and design practical iterative coding systems. The book takes advantage of the simplicity of the binary erasure channel to develop analytical techniques and intuition, which are then applied to general channel models." "Covering the most recent advances in the field, this book is a valuable resource for graduate students in electrical engineering and computer science, as well as practitioners who need to decide which coding scheme to employ, how to design a new scheme, or how to improve an existing system."--Jacket This book was required reading for my graduate level advanced coding topics course. My first issue with the text is its clunky notation. Expressions and equations are written in unusual fonts. Super and sub scripts appear awkward, and the authors seem to introduce their own notation for convolution. Besides the cumbersome typesetting, the book has a somewhat scatterbrained approach for organizing material. This book is essentially about LDPC codes, almost exclusively. The book is good as a side reference, perhaps to supplement a more organized and clearly written text such as Lin & Costello, but not as an introductory text, or a text one would use for clarifying concepts. The text by Todd Moon is a far superior reference. Overall, I do not recommend this book. I've not gotten much use out of it all semester. Factor graphs -- Binary erasure channel -- Binary memoryless symmetric channels -- General channels -- Turbo codes -- General ensembles -- Expander codes and flipping algorithm