General Treatment of the Problem of Coding [reproduced typescript]

Murray Hill, N. J.: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, 1950. Wraps. Near Fine. [1]-6 leaves. 10 7/8 x 8 3/8 inches. Reproduced typescript, stapled upper left. Dated in type on the last page. Wraps. The "Report of Proceedings, Symposium on Information Theory" (London) first published this paper in Sept. 1950." The "Transactions of the IRE Professional Group on Information Theory" reprinted it in Volume: 1, Issue: 1, Feb. 1953, pages 102-104, Feb. 1953. We are not aware of offprints from either publication. Offered here is a reproduced typescript of the paper from Shannon's file predating the first publication. We have not compared it to the published papers.

Shannon defines a typical communication system as consisting of five elements: 1) an information source. 2) an encoding or transmitting element. 3) a channel on which the signal is transmitted from transmitter to receiver. 4) a receiving and decoding device that recovers the original message from the received signal. And 5) the destination of the information.

From the Abstract: "...The central problems to be considered are how one can measure the capacity of a channel for transmitting information; how this capacity depends on various parameters such as bandwidth, available transmitter power and type of noise; and what is the best encoding system for a given information source to utilize a channel most efficiently..."

PROVENANCE: The personal files of Claude E. Shannon (unmarked). One of three examples in Shannon's files.

REFERENCES:
Sloane and Wyner, "Claude Elwood Shannon Collected Papers," #61.