I have followed Dr. Sklar's writing since 1982/83 when a two part article was presented in IEEE Communication Magazine. The tilte was "A Structural Overview od Digital Communication". I used that article in my understanding of the subject and delivered lectures to communication engineers in my presentations to them in 1985/86 time frame. At that time I guessed, and knew that Dr. Sklar would write a book on the subject and this article is actually an introduction to the subject. Then, in 1987, I did find this book (first Edition) and used it for further uderstanding of the subject. I was very happy. I was lucky to have this book in 1998 when I taught this course to MSEE class.The second edition along with Systemview is an excellent combination for teachers as well as for practicing engineers. I have loved this book and is always with me (even during holidays). After Dr. Shannon, Dr, Gallager, Dr. Wozencraft and Dr. Viterbi, and other contemporaries, I found Dr. Sklar giving a satisfactory expalanation on various aspects of Digital Communication. My salutations to Dr. Sklar. We communication engineers should be thankful to his efforts for such a presentation. This is an easy to understand and uses mathematical representations in an appropriate manner. Some of the explanations, like Bandwidth, and Probability of Error, etc. are excellent. I found the flow of chapters as lelegant as a sequence of music that appeals staightawy to the audience. As I love "A mathematical Theory of Communicarion" the same way I love this book.

Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications makes a fine addition to any signal processing engineer's library. Dr. Sklar manages to give a comprehensive view of the subject discussing Bandwidth Efficient Modulation, Bit Error Rates, Multiple Access signaling and a variety of other subjects. This book resides somewhere between upper division undergraduate and graduate level coursework. At this level, a certain amount of study is assumed, and this is an engineering textbook with derivations not listed for a variety of reasons (it is assumed that students are familiar with Fourier transforms and high level calculus. Information presented is for the purpose of Asic/FPGA/chip/software design with a lot of the formulas coming from industry definitions). The accompanying CD is fantastic and anyone looking to apply some of the knowledge with one of the best tools in the industry (Systemview) will find the CD invaluable.

This digital communication book is more readable than the Proakis' book. It explains concepts and theory in plain words. I particularly like the section of viterbi algorithm. Well illustrated diagrams too.

This book has lots of stuff scattered all over the place, without a good flow of development of theory of any kind. Important ideas and not so important ideas are all mixed up. The reader is not able to develop an systematic understanding from the ground up.

This book has lots of stuff scattered all over the place, without a good flow of development of theory of any kind. Important ideas and not so important ideas are all mixed up. The reader is not able to develop an systematic understanding from the ground up.

This book has been golden for two of my undergrad communications classes and is turning out an invalvuable reference for my graduate level comm class, which the professor is teaching from a variety of books. It is very easy to understand and the best part is it covers all the rigorous math. It could be more rigorous with the math in some cases. Still it is such a broad and complete coverage of all important topics it will serve as your comm encyclopedia.

Professor Sklar's book in Digital Communications is most informative, well written and covers all the topics related to digital communications that my colleagues and I use daily at work, as well as in our research. The book provides not only the fundamentals in digital communications, but serves also as a major reference book on advanced topics in this field. I cannot do without it.

Professor Sklar's book in Digital Communications is most informative, well written and covers all the topics related to digital communications that my colleagues and I use daily at work, as well as in our research. The book provides not only the fundamentals in digital communications, but serves also as a major reference book on advanced topics in this field. I cannot do without it.

Sklar covers a lot of material fairly well. At times his explanations are not clear. At his weakest moments he leaned heavily on mathematics without supplying much discussion and left me more or less bewildered. I noticed this problem with many texts during the spent 6 years I spent in graduate school studying physics. "Digital Comm" is a fair book but not a gem.

Digital Communications by Sklar is an excellent introduction to the field for the student or the practicing engineer. There is a logical flow from beginning to end, and the book is written in an easy to read style, which allows the reader to grasp the engineering tradeoffs involved in digital communications.

The book is not mathematically rigorous; although formulas are presented, they are not derived. However, I feel that to correct this shortfall may make the book too long, and harder to read. I think it is better to get a general overview of the topic from this book, and to look to other sources where mathematical rigor is desired.

Some additional background is helpful, but not necessary to understand the mathematical details that are glossed over. These include a course in Detection and Estimation to understand concepts such as signal spaces, noise, decision regions and probability of error, and an introductory DSP course to understand the issues surrounding aliasing, quantizing, equalization, and source coding. Familiarity with Fourier Transforms and prior background with Probability and Random Processes is essential to understanding the math that is presented in the book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book for someone who wants to appreciate the engineeering constraints that need to be met in the design of digital communication systems.

This book is excellent if you are new to the field, no mathematical derivations or justifications in most cases. For a thorough treatment of the subjet I'd recommend Digital Communications by Proakis (Remember tp check for the used prices).

This is a good introductory book and only that. However its usefulness to a graduate student or a practitioner is limited because of two factors.

1)Many mathematical derivations like error probabilities are stated directly without proof, even in simple cases.

2)Practcal and commercial use of the theory is not covered in detail.

Given the above two factors the cost of the book is not at all justified.

I have not read the first edition, but I have long depended on Sklar's tutorial articles in various publications to improve my understanding of digital comms concepts, so it was with some anticipation that I opened this book. It certainly did not disappoint; the author's characteristic style, which imparts an intuitive understanding rather than simply instruct, is present throughout. In certain sections, the theory is not just presented alone but supplemented with nuggets of practical knowledge.

Proakis is undoubtedly still the benchmark for such texts, but this book will be a valuable addition to the bookshelf for both students and engineers alike. Remember to have a look at the checklist in the preface to straighten out your concepts.

I was introduced to the 1st edition of this book as an undergrad at UCLA where Sklar taught. Since then as I have worked in the wireless and telecom fields, it has remained one of my main references. I've added other comm. books such as Proakis', but Sklar remains my favorite. It is well arrange, making it easy to reference any material you may be interested in. It touches on every area of comm. theory from modulation to coding. If you are looking for a general communication theory reference book, then this should be the one. But if you are only interested in learning in detail about one particular area of commmuncation theory such as CDMA or Trellis Coding, then you should seek a book specializing in that area only. No book can cover everything in the depth.

This is one of the best books on the market for communications. As a university professor I am always looking for that special book that can take the student from the formative learning stage into maturity in the field of communication and signal processing. This book is an excellent text for such a journey. It provides a good mix of theory and practice with many worked examples. Unlike many texts in communications theory that provide their audiences with a lot of theory and abstractions that leave them confused, this book is so well written and the theory so well handled and presented, that its concepts are easily grasped. Then, to supplement this, the book has numerous worked examples showing practical applications. As an educator in the field of communications I have adapted this book for my course because its stated attributes above make my work in educating students that much easier. I recommend this book without reservation to anyone who needs a good reference in the field of communications.

I initially was introduced to the book when I took the course in undergraduate electrical engineering curriculum. A graduate curriculum and a year of engineering experience later, I still believe this book is one of the best engineering books, one of the most useful communications books, the best reference book to own and utilize as an engineer. Sklar has a clear vision of the abstract mathematics and complex concepts of the communication world and he transfers that vision into words, pictures, and crystal clear descriptions. Highly recommended even for general reading.

I found this book to have a decent amount of discussion on channel and source coding, baseband and CDMA modulation and demodulation. But NO echo cancellation or DMT and a few paragraphs on channel equalization!?! This book is very readable if you are looking for some fundamentals and common topics, but it's also missing some important stuff. OTOH, I'd really recommend Lee&Messerschmitt's Digital Communication if you need a great reference book.

Es un libro que permite adentrar a los estudiantes al mundo de las comunicaciones. Con esto el alumno llevar� bases solidas para estudios posteriores

This particular text is extremely well organized and presents the material in a straight forward format. I recommend it to the technically inclined person who needs to learn the digital comm "big picture" quickly. It covers signals, RF, baseband, modulation, demodulation, link analysis, channel codeing, codeing trade offs, synchronization, multiplexing, spread spectrum, encryption/decryption, and much more. I have used the text to go from a mere unemployable physicist to a hot RF/Digital Communication Systems Engineer.

The book is used as a course text by the author in Motorola's university training class. It uses basic mathematical approaches and then extends the theory to practical examples. Each of the examples is a useful primer for the advanced communication techniques being developed for the 21st century of satellite global phones using the next revolution in technology - Low Earth Orbit Inter-satellite linked constellations. Very readable text book with many interesting worked examples to assist in rapidly absorbing the material.

This is one of the best books in the market for the price. As a DSP engineer, I find myself making referance to it all the time. For a Jr. engineer this book should be consider a bible for communications; which is a fast growing field. It covers all the topics which you must learn and understand to become a good communications engineer. The topics include Signals and Spectra, Formatting and Baseband transmission, Bandpass modulation and Demodulation, Communications link Analysis, Channel Coding, Synchronization, FDMA, TDMA, Spread- Spectrum Techniques, Source coding, Encryption and Decryption and Fourier Techniques.

The books covers all the above topics in a easy to read format. Which means looking at one topic per chapter - staring with baby steps and growing into a wonderful field of communications by the time you are done reading.

I recommend this book to all the 3rd and 4th year electrical engineering students. It is worth spending the money;if you want to be learn about communications.

Ishwar Uttamchandani
DSP Engineer
BSEE, MSEE, PE