Separation Theorems And Partial Orderings For Sensor Network Problems

In the absence of complexity and delay constraints, the quality of a noisy communication channel can be characterized by a single number, called its capacity and usually measured in bits. Shannon (1948) showed that this number is universal in the sense that via the so-called source/channel separation theorem, it applies to all (stationary, ergodic) communication problems, making bits the universal currency of information in point-to- point communication.