information bits
Mathematical Theory
of Communication
Mathematical Theory of Communication (MTC):
Pioneered by Claude Shannon of Bell Laboratories in
the late 1940’s, MTC is the foundational theory behind
data encoding and transmission. Without it we would
not have cell phones, iPods, databases on hard drives,
or the internet we know today. Shannon developed
the concepts of redundancy, and information entropy.
Ultimately, MTC deals with transmission between a
sender and receiver of symbols encoded in well-formed
strings of signals.
INFORMATION
SOURCE
TRANSMITTER
Claude Shannon
RECEIVER
SIGNAL
DESTINATION
RECEIVED
MESSAGE
MESSAGE
CHANNEL
NOISE
SOURCE
C.E.Shannon, “A mathematical theory of communication.” Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 27, pp. 379-423, 623-656, July-Oct. 1948
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