Modern Digital and Analog Communication Systems

This is an outstanding text. Its explanation of Shannon's theorem is the best I've seen anywhere. What makes this text stand out is two things beyond just the subject matter covered (which is also excellent). First, just enough historical background is given behind a major discovery to give an appreciation for why the discovery is important. For example, earlier pioneers in FM thought that FM bandwidth was only the deviation in frequency due to the modulation of the signal. Of course, this proved to be incorrect and the explanation of why is absolutely clear in this text. Second, often the author will take a sentence or two to recap a complex explanation just to make sure the reader has understood the points made. This is excellent pedagogical style. It is also important to note that the printing of this volume makes its reading a pleasure. The style of the text, the equations, and the examples are well-done. This is just about the best communications text I've seen. Move over Couch and Sklar. Please, Professor Lathi write some more of these texts.

This is the best communication book I've ever read. The part about using signal space concept to explain optimum reciever structure in AWGN is just amazing! Linear algebra and probability theory all appear there! I can't stop myself reading the book once I start to do so! Highly recommended!

I read the Communication Systems Engineering book by Proakis and Salehi and comparing that with this book by Lathi, this book is a lot better. The concepts are explained much clearly and the book makes every attempt to relate the concepts with day to day life. Attention has been paid to detail so as not to confuse the student too much. Also the mathematics in this book is much more complete than the Proakis and Salehi book. I would recommend this book with 5 stars.

This book is far better than Haykin's Communication Systems textbook and is cleaner in presentation and organization by leaps and bounds. This book does not introduce topics ad hoc and expect you to have previous background, as Haykin's book does. I really cannot find anything major at all wrong with this book. Everything is clear, the examples are relevant, and the book is really smooth if you start from the beginning. I used this book in addition to Communication Systems by Haykin to learn the subject, and this one is far better; my fellow students agree with me.

I have used this book as the text book for my first semester communication systems course at Cornell. I found this book is easy to read and understand, plus there are plenty of examples. Compared to other miserable communications textbooks out there, this book is a must-read for any telecom majors.