Information Theory and Source Coding – Contents
This one-semester course originally is part of the Master Programme Communications Engineering at RWTH. The course can also be attended by diploma students. The lecture contents are basically organized in two blocks: On the one hand, the basics of Information Theory are introduced and applied to the field of data encoding. The theory comprises the following elements, accompanied by numerous examples:
- Discrete memoryless sources and sources with memory
- entropy, conditional entropy, and mutual information
- entropy coding (Shannon code, Fano code, Huffman code, Facsimile)
- and the performance limits of data compression
The second block extends Information Theory and establishes the principles of speech signal encoding. Eventually, the lecture leads to an overview of the state-of-the-art of speech coding technology and its applications, as for example mobile radio. The following topics are discussed in particular:
- Continuous (analog) sources with memory
- sampling and quantization of analog signals
- introduction to rate-distortion theory
- linear prediction theory and differential waveform coding
- and an overview about the standards and applications of speech coding
The lecture is supported by weekly exercises. If the described course on "Information Theory and Source Coding" is combined with the course on "Channel Coding and Modulation", a comprehensive understanding of digital communication systems can be achieved.