Digital communication. Principles and system modelling. (Q970459)

The reviewed book deals with the principal aspects of digital communication systems operation. The material in the book is presented in an encyclopedic way. Basic definitions and mathematical models are followed by illustrations and simple examples or case studies. Additionally, example \texttt{Matlab} programs are attached. This makes the book quite useful to readers willing to familiarize themselves with the basics of transmission, modulation, digital signal processing, and information and coding theory. In this context it is a pity that many aspects of modern digital communication have been left out. An example is the description of convolutional codes. The author claims that: ``\dots this is a new form of a coding technique''. There is no information about turbo codes, which have gained high popularity in various transmission systems. The author further presents several aspects of entropy coding. However, there is no information e.g. about modern versions of arithmetic coding. Also missing are elements of information theory (apart from Shannon-Hartley theorem), like channel capacity for noiseless channels or relationships between the channel bandwidth, transmission rate and signal distortions and other issues closely related to signal transfer and transmission rate. Summarizing, however, one may state without a doubt that this is an interesting and useful book, with a lot of illustrations and examples.