The field of digital communication has evolved rapidly in the past few
decades, with commercial applications proliferating in wireline communi-
cation networks (e.g., digital subscriber loop, cable, fiber optics), wireless
communication (e.g., cell phones and wireless local area networks), and stor-
age media (e.g., compact discs, hard drives). The typical undergraduate and
graduate student is drawn to the field because of these applications, but is
often intimidated by the mathematical background necessary to understand
communication theory.
