A First Course to Network Coding

Network coding is a rising paradigm for data transportation. It brings light to a prior dark area: that a node within a network can process information passing through it to make better use of the transmission capacity. This is a textbook aiming to introduce network coding to people with limited background in mathematics and/or engineering. The study of network coding interacts with various fields in engineering, mathematics, physics, even biology. For readers to form a rigorous understanding of network coding, relevant knowledge in mathematics, information theory, engineering etc. is integrated in this book.

Network coding example.

Table of Contents

Preface

• How to Use this Book

Background Knowledge

• Probability: Concepts and Useful Equations

Chapters

• Communication Model and Network Concepts

This chapter gives the audience a general impression of a Shannon-Weaver communication model and a traditional network.

• An Introduction to Network Coding

This chapter aims to introduce the general idea of network coding via butterfly network, and demonstrate its superiority.

• Information Measure and Handy Inequations

This chapter introduces how to measure information, i.e. the concept of entropy and mutual information.

• Max-flow Bound

This chapter focus on how to measure the performance of a network that implements coding.

• Linear Network Coding: Acyclic

This chapter introduces the most well-known and well-established model of coding network: linear, acyclic with a single source.

• A Brief Review of Probability

Further Reading Suggestions

• Network Coding and Cyber Security
• Network Coding in Physical Layer