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.

Table of Contents
This chapter gives the audience a general impression of a Shannon-Weaver communication model and a traditional network.
 * Preface
 * /How to Use this Book/
 * Background Knowledge
 * /Probability: Concepts and Useful Equations/
 * Chapters
 * /Communication Model and Network Concepts/

This chapter aims to introduce the general idea of network coding via butterfly network, and demonstrate its superiority.
 * /An Introduction to Network Coding/

This chapter introduces how to measure information, i.e. the concept of entropy and mutual information.
 * /Information Measure and Handy Inequations/

This chapter focus on how to measure the performance of a network that implements coding.
 * /Max-flow Bound/

This chapter introduces the most well-known and well-established model of coding network: linear, acyclic with a single source.
 * /Linear Network Coding: Acyclic/


 * /A Brief Review of Probability/

Further Reading Suggestions

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