Discover the first unified treatment of today's most essential information technologies&; Compressing, Encrypting, and Encoding With identity theft, cybercrime, and digital file sharing proliferating in today's wired world, providing safe and accurate information transfers has become a paramount concern. The issues and problems raised in this endeavor are encompassed within three disciplines: cryptography, information theory, and error-correction. As technology continues to develop, these fields have converged at a practical level, increasing the need for a unified treatment of these three cornerstones of the information age. Stressing the interconnections of the disciplines, Cryptography, Information Theory, and Error-Correction offers a complete, yet accessible account of the technologies shaping the 21st century. This book contains the most up-to-date, detailed, and balanced treatment available on these subjects. The authors draw on their experience both in the classroom and in industry, giving the book's material and presentation a unique real-world orientation. With its reader-friendly style and interdisciplinary emphasis, Cryptography, Information Theory, and Error-Correction serves as both an admirable teaching text and a tool for self-learning. The chapter structure allows for anyone with a high school mathematics education to gain a strong conceptual understanding, and provides higher-level students with more mathematically advanced topics. The authors clearly map out paths through the book for readers of all levels to maximize their learning. This book: Is suitable for courses in cryptography, information theory, or error-correction as well as courses discussing all three areas Provides over 300 example problems with solutions Presents new and exciting algorithms adopted by industry Discusses potential applications in cell biology Details a new characterization of perfect secrecy Features in-depth coverage of linear feedback shift registers (LFSR), a staple of modern computing Follows a layered approach to facilitate discussion, with summaries followed by more detailed explanations Provides a new perspective on the RSA algorithm Cryptography, Information Theory, and Error-Correction is an excellent in-depth text for both graduate and undergraduate students of mathematics, computer science, and engineering. It is also an authoritative overview for IT professionals, statisticians, mathematicians, computer scientists, electrical engineers, entrepreneurs, and the generally curious.