1. Looking at the way our methods and systems of
communication have evolved by nature, nurture and
design so we may operate effectively in the best and
the worst of conditions. Supported by mathematical
analysis reinforced by practical demonstrations
Demystifying
Information Theory
The ‘glue’ that binds life and the
universe into a coherent matrix

2. I N F O R M A T I O N T H E O R Y
Origin: Claude E. Shannon in 1948 "A Mathematical Theory of Communication”
Genetic: Lossless (Zip)/Lossy(MP3) data compression/coding for info transmission/ storage
Extended: Linguistics, human perception, and the understanding of black holes ++
Entropy: Quantifies the amount of uncertainty involved in any form of information
Measures: Relative entropy, mutual information, channel capacity, bandwidth, S/N, bit errors
Intersections: Maths, statistics, computer science, electronics, physics, chemistry, neurobiology
Applicability: Statistical inference, natural language processing, cryptography, neurobiology,
evolution/function of molecular codes, thermal physics, quantum computing, linguistics,
plagiarism detection, pattern recognition, anomaly detection, source coding, channel coding,
algorithmic complexity theory, cosmology, security, +++ all forms of communications from
electronic, optical, paper, biological +++
Quantification, data storage, and communication

3. Communication
I N F O R M A T I O N
Actions
Gestures
Facial Expression
Body Langage
Pheromones
Grunts - Noises
Spoken Language
Shouting
Waving
Fires
Smoke
Flags
Drums
Horns
Mirrors
Runners
Riders
Pigeons
Semaphore
Storage
Paintings
Carvings
Stories
Songs
Dance
Drama
Talley Sticks
Clay Tablets
Animal Skins
Bamboo Strips
Paper
Books
Libraries
Mechanisms
Speed/content limited; most suited to
localised applications in largely
c o n t a i n e d s o c i e t i e s w i t h l i t t l e
movement of goods and people….best
thought of as ‘human scale’ systems
480 × 432 - sunreed.com

4. Computing Power
G R 0 W T H
216 × 162 - sphinxbazaar.com
480 × 432 - sunreed.com
E x p o n e n t i a l l y m o r e p r o c e s s i n g p o w e r, ( a n d
m o r e r e c e n t l y ) i n t e l l i g e n c e , f o r
e x p o n e n t i a l l y l e s s : c o s t , p h y s i c a l s p a c e ,
e n e r g y , m a t e r i a l … f u n d a m e n t a l l y i m p o s s i b l e
w i t h o u t a s o l i d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f i n f o t h e o r y

5. D a t a S t o r a g e
480 × 432 - sunreed.com
G R 0 W T H
E x p o n e n t i a l l y m o r e d a t a c r e a t e d a n d s t o r e d f o r
e x p o n e n t i a l l y l e s s : c o s t , p h y s i c a l s p a c e , e n e r g y ,
m a t e r i a l … a l l f u n d a m e n t a l l y i m p o s s i b l e w i t h o u t a
s o l i d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f i n f o r m a t i o n ( t h e o r y )

6. Communication
G R 0 W T H
E x p o n e n t i a l l y m o r e d e v i c e s a n d p r o d u c t s o n - l i n e
f o r e x p o n e n t i a l l y l e s s / i t e m : c o s t , p h y s i c a l
s p a c e , e n e r g y , m a t e r i a l … a l l g e n e r a t i n g m o r e
c o n n e c t i o n s a n d t r a f f i c … f u n d a m e n t a l l y i m p o s s i b l e
w i t h o u t i n f o r m a t i o n t h e o r y

7. The ~10m limit of humans
I N F O R M A T I O N
Conversation - Eye Contact
Facial Expressions - Pheromones
Body Language - Privacy
At about 1m all forms
of human communication
work extremely well

8. The ~10m limit of humans
I N F O R M A T I O N
As we physically move apart all forms
of human communication progressively degrade
and we lose clarity and privacy
Our technologies have only
recently (~100 years)closed
this gap across the planet
The information storage story
is very similar - from stories,
song and dance to IT over
1000s of years - IT ~ 50 years

9. V e r y e a r l y i n s i g h t i n t o i n f o r m a t i o n
“ T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t m e s s a g e i s
t h e l e a s t e x p e c t e d o n e ”
Petronius (c. 27 – 66 AD) was a Roman writer of the Neronian age; a noted
satirist. He is identified with C. Petronius Arbiter, but the manuscript text of the
Satyricon calls himTitus Petronius. Satyricon is his sole surviving work.
First quoted at me when I was a student in the 1970s but I have never
been able to validate, but just like Confucius, Arbiter is credited with
hundreds of undocumented quotes of this nature.
P E T R O N I U S A R B I T E R

10. Victory/Nelson/Trafalgar
1805 England expects every
man to do his duty
At sea the ships are rolling,
the wind is blowing, it may
be raining, sleeting, snowing,
and it might be dull, overcast,
stormy, or night time!
Very limited message sets
Slow rate of communication
High probability of error
Can be read by the enemy ?
Needs coding for secrecy
British Navy 1653 & on
S E M A P H O R E

11. S E M A P H O R E
Chappe - Napoleonic War - 1791
England expects every
man to do his duty
Lille to Paris communication
with towers every 12 - 25 km
about an hour for 150km
provided all the operators were
alert/awake/not indisposed!
~10 words/minute
Wide ranger of message sets
Slow rate of communication
High probability of error
Can be read by the enemy ?
Needs coding for secrecy
820 × 540 - commons.wikimedia.org
170 × 231 - en.wikipedia.org
1790 & on

12. S E M A P H O R E
Surrey - Napoleonic War - 1822
England expects every
man to do his duty
Wide ranger of message sets
Slow rate of communication
High probability of error
Can be read by the enemy ?
Needs coding for secrecy
Portsmouth to London comms
with towers every 12 - 25 km
about an hour for 150km
provided all the operators were
alert/awake/not indisposed!
~10 words/minute
1790 & on

13. S E M A P H O R E
Modern times USA and UK engineers combined the heliotrope surveying instrument (1821 Carl Friedrich Gauss)
and Morse code for signalling. Henry C. Mance, working for UK government’s Persian Gulf Telegraph Department
in Karachi, perfected (1869) the wireless communications apparatus he dubbed the heliograph. In 1875 Mance’s
device was approved for use by the British-Indian Army. ~20 words/minute
HelioGraph - Ancient China - Modern Wars ~1822

14. R A I L W A Y S
Changed everything
T h e h i g h s p e e d
transportation of
people and goods
a t a n i n h u m a n
s p e e d a n d s c a l e
demanded faster
i n f o r m a t i o n
transport
Railway Networks demanded
faster telecommunications
than all train traffic
Nationwide standard time
was required for the first
time in mankind’s history
Timetables Safety
Signalling Scheduling
Control Orchestration

15. T E L E G R A P H
Saw a dash dot bubble
1837 & on

16. T E L E G R A P H
I N V E N T E D
Railways = new industry
Standardised, and very simple
signalling format used to
ensure high efficiency and a
low error rate

17. A collaboration resulting in an iconic result
Vail refined the prototype produced by Morse, who retained all the patents. The
‘story’ is that; by visiting a printers and counting the number off occurrences of each
letter ‘e’ was found to be dominant and so was assigned the smallest element - one
dot; ‘i’ was next and was assigned two dots, and then ‘t’ with dash…and so on.
M O R S G E / V A I L C O D E

18. A collaboration resulting in an iconic result
The efficiency of the symbol and code relationship can be gaged from the above tree
with less signal space used for the most common letters and most allocated to the
rarest incidences Q, Y, Z
M O R S G E / V A I L C O D E
.
..
…
….
-
--
---
-..-
-- -.--..

19. Extended to other languages/character sets
All other language adaptations lead to significant inefficiencies !
M O R S G E / V A I L C O D E
Chinese Russian Japanese

20. A path resulting in a transformative result
C H A R A C T E R S E T S
A n e v o l u t i o n t o w a r d
f l e x i b i l i t y d i s a m b i g u a t i o n ,
a d a p t a b i l i t y , r e d u n d a n c y ,
reasonable efficiency, clarity,
g l o b a l s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n o f
c h a r a c t e r f o r m a t , s p e l l i n g
and phraseology

21. The transmission, processing, extraction, and utilisation of information
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height My soul can reach
106783428576210048898337213498501
R E D U D A N C Y
In character sets & fonts

22. R E D U D A N C Y
Readable with missing bits
O ce m re unto th bre h, dear frie s, once m re;
Or close the wa l up ith our En sh dead! In peace
the 's nothing so beco s a an, As modest stilln s
and h ility; B t when he bla t of war b ows in our
ears, Then …
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead! In peace
there's nothing so becomes a man, As modest stillness
and humility; But when the blast of war blows in our
ears, Then…

23. R E D U D A N C Y
Purposely shortened TXT
How r u 2day
Want 2 go 4 a drink @ 8 2nigt
Get a curry 2 ?

24. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

25. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

26. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

27. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

28. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

29. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

30. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

31. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

32. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

33. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

34. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

35. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

36. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

37. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

38. R E D U D A N C Y
Image Paradox and More

39. T E L E G R A P H
Connecting every empire

40. T E L E G R A P H
T i t a n i c 1 9 1 2 w i re l e s s

41. T E L E G R A P H
W W I I M i l i t a r y - N a va l
F re q u e n c y s e l e c t i ve f a d i n g
T h e r m a l + s p e c t ra l n o i s e
L o w l e ve l i n t e r f e re n c e

42. T E L E G R A P H
WWII Telex in use ~1986
D e v e l o p e d t o m e e t t h e n e e d
f o r s p e e d + m o re a c c u ra c y +
m o re a n d m o re t ra f f i c

43. M o d e r n e r a B L I N K I N G
Admiral Jeremiah Denton Blinks T-O-R-T-U-R-E using Morse Code as P.O.W.
S E M A P H O R E

44. M o d e r n e ra A l d i s L a m p
WW1 & WWII
Ship - Ship
Ship - Shore
Aircraft - Aircraft
Ship - Aircraft
+++
Still in use
S E M A P H O R E

45. C o m m e r c i a l A i r l i n e r - ATC
S P E E C H R A D I O
F o r m a l i s e d o p e ra t i o n s / p ro c e d u re s
a n d m e s s a g e s e t s c o m p e n s a t e f o r
p o o r s i g n a l s t re n g t h , i n t e r f e re n c e
n o i s e , a n d t i re d n e s s + +
M e s s a g e s a re g e n e ra l l y b o u n d e d
a n d m o s t i m p o r t a n t l y e x p e c t e d + +

46. B i r d S t r i k e E m e r g e n c y
S P E E C H R A D I O
C a p t a i n C h e s l e y S u l l e n b u r g e r
l a n d s C a c t u s 1 5 4 9 i n t h e N Y
H u d s o n R i ve r 1 5 / 0 1 / 0 9
Re a l c o c k p i t t a p e s - f l i g h t
s i m u l a t i o n

47. M i l i t a r y A i r c r a f t C o m b a t
S P E E C H R A D I O

48. M i l i t a r y H F S S B C h a n n e l
S P E E C H R A D I O

49. In the hierarchy to wisdom
Information theory studies the transmission,
processing, extraction & utilisation of information.
The case of communications over a noisy channel
first detailed in the 1948 paper by Claude Shannon
C = B.T. log2(1+ S/N)
Wisdom
Knowledge
Information
Data
Noise
Human activity: Government, Services
Commerce, Industry, Farming, Society,
Education, Research, Development
Continually analysed, filtered,
rationalised, published
Created by all human/machine/
network activities 365 x 24
Meaning and implications
abstracted
Making the best decisions
possible based on all our
accumulated knowledge
models & experiences
I N F O R M A T I O N

50. Describe, define & quantify
I N F O R M A T I O N
Bits
Bytes
Bauds
Signal
Noise
Coding
Storage
Decoding
Bandwidth
Processing
Encryption
Decryption
Interference
Transmission
+++++
Bits
Bytes
Bauds
Signal
Noise
Coding
Bandwidth
Transmission

51. Describe, define & quantify
I N F O R M A T I O N
Two States = 1; 0Bits = Binary Digits =
Bytes = Collection of Bits = Typically an 8 Bit Byte
Bauds = Signalling element rate = or = Bit Rate
For reasons associated with matching
the transmission channel / medium
and/or dealing with noise and/or
sources of interfer

52. I N F O R M A T I O N
Claude Shannon Original
Claude Elwood Shannon
1916 – 2001) mathematician, electrical engineer,
and cryptographer at Bell Labs
Work on cryptography 1940 to 1945 - to prove
SIGSALY coding linking the U.S. President with
Winston Churchill by HF radio-telephone could
not be broken
Founded information theory during the same
period with a landmark paper,
A Mathematical Theory of Communication, 1948

53. E N T R 0 P Y
A measure of order
Order implies less information
Disorder implies a lot of information
Expected messages implies less information
Unexpected messages implies more information
Less Ordered
Greater Entropy
More Information
More Ordered
Lower Entropy
Less Information

54. The basic of what we mean
I N F O R M A T I O N
y
x

55. The basics of what we mean
I N F O R M A T I O N
y
x
Information = x;y;white

56. The basic of what we mean
I N F O R M A T I O N
y
x
Information = x;y;white; (dot colour, size, location)

57. The basic of what we mean
I N F O R M A T I O N
y
x
Information = x;y;white; (dots, colours, sizes, locations)

58. The basic of what we mean
I N F O R M A T I O N
y
x
Info= x;y;colourgrad; (shapes, colours, sizes, locations)

59. Fundamental relationship
I N F O R M A T I O N
Complexity
Information
Units ??
Units ??
What are the Law(s) and/or
relationship(s) defining
the shape of this line?
Information = f(complexity)

60. Channel
Copper Wire
Optical Fibre
Wireless
Receiver
Demodulation
Decoding
Error Correction
Transmitter
Coding
Modulation
Degraders
Noise
Interference
Channel Variations
Reflections
Describe, define & quantify
I N F O R M A T I O N
Sent Bit
Stream
Recovered
Bit Stream
Signal Distorted
Signal
Transmission
information movement
A B
Signal
+
Noise
S/N
Ratio
Error
Rate
????
Error
Rate
????
Spectrum
of Stream

61. Dictionary definition - basic
I N F O R M A T I O N
noun [mass noun]
1 facts provided or learned about something or someone: a vital piece of information.
• [count noun] Law a charge lodged with a magistrates' court: the tenant may lay an
information against his landlord.
2 what is conveyed or represented by a particular arrangement or sequence of things:
genetically transmitted information.
• Computing data as processed, stored, or transmitted by a computer.
• (in information theory) a mathematical quantity expressing the probability of occurrence of a
particular sequence of symbols, impulses, etc., as against that of alternative sequences.
ORIGIN
late Middle English (also in the sense ‘formation of the mind, teaching’), via Old French from
Latin informatio(n-), from the verb informare (see inform).
T h i s i s t h e ke r n e l o f w h a t we
h a ve t o u n d e r s t a n d a n d w h y
w e n e e d a t h e o r y a n d
d i m e n s i o n e d m o d e l

62. Describe, define & quantify
I N F O R M A T I O N
Storage
Magnetic
Optical
Thermal
Decoding
Error Correction
Coding
Modulation
Degraders
Noise
Interference
Natural Decay
Data In
Recovered
Data OutSignal Distorted
Signal
Conditioning
information storage
A B
Error
Rate
????

63. Describe, define & quantify
I N F O R M A T I O N
Channel
Copper Wire
Optical Fibre
Wireless
Receiver
Demodulation
Decoding
Error Correction
Transmitter
Coding
Modulation
Degraders
Noise
Interference
Channel Variations
Reflections
Bit
Stream
In
Recovered
Bit StreamSignal Distorted
Signal
Transmission
information movement
A B
Signal
+
Noise
S/N
Ratio
Error
Rate
????
Error
Rate
????

64. Of an Info Source
E N T R O P Y
All information theory analysis assumes binary (Base 2) as the foundation level and is then
expanded to the more complex Ternary…’M’ary telecom, computing and storage up to and
including analogue systems such as AM, FM, SSB wireless, all forms of imagery, languages
including atomic interactions.
Based on the probability mass function* of each symbol, the Shannon Entropy (bits/symbol)
is given by:
*PMF gives the probability that a discrete random variable is exactly = to some value: it is a primary means of defining a discrete probability distribution
PMF differs from a probability density function (pdf) which is associated with continuous rather than discrete random variables; the probability density
function must be integrated over an interval to yield a probability
Where = the occurrence probability of the -th symbol

65. Information Source
E N T R O P Y
The entropy of a discrete random bit stream (or discrete variable X) is a measure of the
uncertainty when only its distribution is known:
It is maximised when all bits are equiprobable: p(x) = 1/n; giving H(X) = log(n)
where = probability of a head; and = probability of a tail
An easily digested example is the tossing of a fair coin:
Then:
Notice that -log (p) = log (1/p) and by convention Limit -p.log(p) = 0 as p approaches 0

66. Information Source
E N T R O P Y
The entropy of a discrete random bit stream (or discrete variable X) is a measure of the
uncertainty when only its distribution is known:
It is maximised when all bits are equiprobable: p(x) = 1/n; giving H(X) = log(n)
where = probability of a head; and = probability of a tail
An easily digested example is the tossing of a fair coin:
Then:
Notice that -log (p) = log (1/p) and by convention Limit -p.log(p) = 0 as p approaches 0

67. Information Source
E N T R O P Y
Plotting the entropy of a binary case with a range of bit probabilities using this formula:
Coin with Tails
on both sides
…illustrates the importance of = 1/2
Another way of looking at this would be
gambling with biased coins:
Coin with Heads
on both sidesFair Coin

68. Mutual Information
E N T R O P Y
A measure of the information obtained about one signal by observing another
Used to maximise the information shared between transmitted and received signals
The mutual information of X relative to Y is given by:
This is an important property in the fields of complex modulation, coding and encryption

69. T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n
I N F O R M A T I O N
1138 × 1364 - atlantic-cable.com
A p r i m a r y d r i v e r > 1 0 0 y e a r s
o v e r t a k e n b y c o m p u t i n g , A I
r o b o t i c s , b i o l o g y . . m a t e r i a l s

70. How many bit/s ??
C A P I C I T Y
Channel
Copper Wire
Optical Fibre
Wireless
Receiver
Demodulation
Decoding
Error Correction
Transmitter
Coding
Modulation
Degraders
Noise
Interference
Channel Variations
Reflections
Bit
Stream
In
Recovered
Bit StreamSignal Distorted
Signal
Transmission
information movement
A B
Signal
+
Noise
S/N
Ratio
Error
Rate
????
Error
Rate
????

71. If it is wrong
D E M O I

72. L o s s y c o d i n g
D E M O 2

73. L o w / N o S i g n a l
D E M O 3

74. S/ N Analogue
D E M O 4
L o g O u t G OTO L I V E A P P S 1

75. Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T
The Shannon - Hartley Law was not originally derived as detailed below; they
took a far more probabilistic and complex path. For our ease of understanding
we assume an easier/engineering approach/route that definitely upsets purists!
Let us assume some time series analogue electrical signal accompanied by
random noise in the form:
Signal = vs(t) and Noise = vn(t)
In power terms this becomes:
Signal Power = Vs/R = S and Noise Power = Vn/R = N2 2
Where: V= rms value of v; and R = a dissipating resistive load

76. Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T
It is also assumed that the: Signal = vs(t) and Noise = vn(t) are statically
independent - ie knowing something about one gives you no idea about
the other - they are mathematically orthogonal.
We now assume a quantisation if the signal into symbols or numbers
based on the relative rms values such that:
Which, with a little mathematical juggling becomes:

77. Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T
It is also assumed that the: Signal = vs(t) and Noise = vn(t) are statically
independent - ie knowing something about one gives you no idea about
the other - they are mathematically orthogonal.
We now assume a quantisation if the signal into symbols or numbers
based on the relative rms values such that:
Which, with a little mathematical juggling becomes:

78. Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T
Rearranging further, this becomes:
If we now make M - b Bit measurements in a time T, the amount of information
bits collected will be :
Now the Sampling Theorem tells us that the highest practical rate M/T is:

79. Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T
And just a little more rearranging gets us to the ‘bottom line’:
This is the fastest rate information (an upper bound) that can be transmitted
over a given channel
So the maximum amount of information that can be transported in a given
time T over this channel is:
I = B.T
bits/second
bits

80. S/N dB
BW Hz
Duration
T seconds
I = B.T log2(1 + k.S/N)
I ~ B.T.K.S/NdB
vv
Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T

81. The same information
t r a n s m i t t e d o v e r a
channel in three different
modes using S/N, BW and
T as variable factors
S/N dB
Duration
T seconds
BW Hz
Transmission/Storage upper bound
S H A N N O N L I M I T

82. The same information
t r a n s m i t t e d o v e r a
channel in three different
modes using S/N, BW and
T as variable factors
Transmission/Storage noise impact
E R R O R R A T E - S / N
Suppose we transmit a
binary signal of two
voltage levels
The received signal will
have picked up thermal
and other forms of noise
y(t) = the bit stream
n(t) = the additive noise

83. Transmission/Storage noise impact
E R R O R R A T E - S / N
Suppose we transmit a
binary signal represented
by two voltage levels
The received signal will
have picked up thermal
and other forms of noise
y(t) = the bit stream
n(t) = the additive noise

84. Transmission/Storage noise impact
E R R O R R A T E - S / N
P1 = 0.5
P0 = 0.50
1
0
1 P1 = ?
P0 = ?

85. Transmission/Storage noise impact
E R R O R R A T E - S / N

86. ≠
E R R O R S
Decisions

87. E R R O R S
Decisions

88. E R R O R S
Decisions

89. E R R O R S
Decisions

90. Upper bound/Limit
S H R N N N O N

91. A London cenral city location
R E A L I T Y W I F I
T
seconds
S + N
Power
B = 22MHz

92. S/ N Analogue
D E M O 4
L o g O u t G OTO L I V E A P P S 2

93. Any further questions
cochrane.org.uk
or thoughts ??