Digital Communication Techniques: Signal Design and Detection

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent book covering basics in communications(not DSP)
Review: Besides the fact that the authors are very well-known professionals, as a grad in Communications Systems, I found that this book does an excellent job in describing everything you need to know about modulations in communication systems. Don't be scared by the contents in chapter 2. I would suggest reading chapter 1 first and then go right into chapter 3, which is the easiest. Also, I would suggest you read problems in chapter 1. Questions like "What is a communication system?" will really make you think!

This is not a book for a DSP guy, or a computer science or programmers. To a pure system person, I would recommend this book, along with "Principles of Communications" by Jacob and Wozencraft, and "The Elements of Information Theory" by Thomas Cover and Joy Thomas. This combination will make you fly, although the last one is a bit complicated and highly invloved in rigorous mathematics.

Rating:
Summary: Covers a lot of material but is not easy to read.
Review: This book covers many topics in modulation and demodulation. It touches on a great number of techniques and approaches. I found it hard to understand without consulting other texts. It is probably best suited for someone with a very good understanding of the topics and used as a reference for applicable formulas and analysis. I would not recommend it for a DSP engineer designing equipment. I would recommend it to system designer developing the specifications and standards for new communications system.

Contents:

Chp 1 Introduction to Telecommunications

Chp 2 Power Spectral Density of Digital Modulations

Chp 3 Scaler and Vector Communications Over the Memoryless Channel

Chp 4 Coherent Communication

Chp 5 Noncoherent Communication

Chp 6 Partially Coherent Communication

Chp 7 Differentially Coherent Communication

Chp 8 Double Differentially Coherent Communication

Chp 9 Communication over Bandlimited Channels

Chp 10 Demodulation and Detection of Other Digital Modulations

Chp 11 Coded Digital Communications

Chp 12 Block-Coded Digital Communications

Chp 13 Convolutional-Coded Digital Communications

Rating:
Summary: Looks useful, til you read it. For Ph.D students only.
Review: This book looked like the answer to my dreams - a useful text on digital mod/demod techniques for a DSP designer. No such luck. It is a compendium of incredibly detailed information for those who may be in the business of comparative analysis of modulation techniques, or for those designing new communications systems. That makes the book useful to a pitiful few - Ph.D. students, standards groups, and systems designers who have total control over both transmission and reception, and need to select the best approach. For such an audience - buy the book NOW. It's an incredible reference. For the rest of us, we are given a specific signal standard, and we have to develop the techniques to match those standards. To that audience - DSP algorithm designers, coders, circuit designers, the book is only modestly useful.