ECE 563: Information Theory, Fall 2026

• Class time and place: 12:30 - 13:50 TR in Room 3081 ECEB (in-person only)


• Instructor: Prof. V. V. Veeravalli. 315 CSL, vvv at illinois dot edu, 333-0144
  Office Hours: Tuesdays 4PM - 5PM on Zoom. Zoom Coordinates.


• Teaching Assistant: Peizhi Niu, peizhin2 at illinois dot edu
  TA Office Hours: Wednesdays from 5 to 6 pm in ECEB 4036.
• The Gradescope entry code is here . Please change your gradescope Student ID to your University UIN.

Announcements

• There will be no class on Thursday, September 17 due to the Allerton Conference in the NCSA building on campus. You are encouraged to attend the conference.
• There will be no class on Thursday, September 24.

Homework Assignments and Exams

Note: Please submit your homework assignments on Gradescope. Scan your handwritten solutions (typed solutions are not allowed) into a pdf file to submit. At the time of submission please don't forget indicate which page/s contain the answers to each of the questions. Think about the problems on your own, without consulting online resources; you will get full credit for demonstrating a reasonable effort on each problem even if you end up making some errors. You can discuss the problems with your fellow students if you like, but each of you must write and submit independent solutions.

Handouts, Etc.

Shannon's 1948 paper
Trailer for Bit Player - Movie about Claude Shannon.

Course Details

• Syllabus: Mathematical models for channels and sources; entropy, information, data compression, channel capacity, Shannon's theorems, and rate-distortion theory. Same as CS 578 and STAT 563. Prerequisite: One of ECE 534, MATH 464, MATH 564.

  Textbook: T. M. Cover and J. A. Thomas, Elements of Information Theory, Wiley, 2nd Edn.

  Other Books:
  R. E. Blahut, Principles and Practice of Information Theory, Addison-Wesley, 1987
  R. G. Gallager, Information Theory and Reliable Communication, Wiley, 1968.
  R.W. Yeung, A First Course in Information Theory, Kluwer, 2002.

  Exams, homework, grading, etc.:

• Homework (H) problems will be assigned on a (approx.) fortnightly basis and be submitted via Gradescope . No late homework will be accepted (unless an extension is granted in advance by the instructor).
• There will be two mid-term exams. The first midterm exam (M1) will be held on Monday, October 12, from 7:00-8:30 pm and the second midterm exam (M2) on Monday, November 30, from 7:00-8:30 pm. There will be a paper review project (R) at the end of the semester (details will be provided later).
• Your course grade will be determined by your performance in the H, M1, M2 and R, according to the formula:
  
  Score = .1H + .3R + max{.25M1 + .35M2, .35M1+.25M2},
  
  where H, M1, M2 and R are normalized to 100.
  
  

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