Fundamentals of Convolutional Coding [Book Reviews]

This book provides a comprehensive coverage of almost all the major research results in convolutional coding since their introduction by Elias 45 years ago. The authors are well respected senior researchers who have spent almost their entire career in this field. The book was developed over a period of more than ten years and has been thoroughly tested in the doctoral program at Lund University, Sweden. The result of this painstaking effort is a first-class graduate textbook and research resource that sets very high standards for depth and breadth of coverge, attention to detail, and clarity. As a graduate textbook, it is ideal for an advanced, doctoral level course on convolutional coding. It would best be preceded by a course in the basics of block coding theory, but the brief coverage of block codes included in Chapter 1 would be sufficient for highly motivated students. The book is too long to be covered in one semester, because much of the material is heavy in detail and not easy to comprehend. Despite my obvious like and appreciation for this book, there are, in my opinion, a few shortcomings. Most unfortunate, perhaps, is the lack of any coverage of so-called turbo codes. I also was somewhat disappointed in the relatively brief coverage given to trellis-coded modulation. These practically important codes deserve more attention than they received here. Finally, I would have liked to see the authors develop the concept of punctured convolutional codes, also very important in practice, to the same depth that they covered, say, tail biting codes. All in all, though, these shortcomings should not detract from what is on the whole an excellent book.