Chapter 1 Preface

In this set of lecture notes, we provide an introduction to some nonasymptotic tools in information theory that are useful in the design of latency-constrained transmission systems in which short-information packets are exchanged. Compared to other available resources, the focus of these lecture notes is entirely on wireless communication channels. Although the notes are mostly self-contained, some knowledge of basic concepts in information theory such as channel capacity, and a familiarity with wireless communication channels is assumed. These notes have been used as teaching material for the course SSY210–Information Theory at Chalmers University of Technology.

1.1 Simulation code

To download the matlab code used to generate the plots contained in the lecture notes, please visit https://github.com/gdurisi/fbl-notes

1.2 Status of these notes

These notes are still in a draft status and additional chapters will be added regularly (we hope) over the next few months. If you have suggestions on what to add first, questions regarding the current content, or simply want to share with us the (long) list of typos you have found, do not hesitate to contact us via email: {durisi,lanchoa}@chalmers.se