Shannon Information Theory: Transducer Entropy doesn't increase

In summary: Shannon also mentions that if the transducer is non-singular, meaning that it has an inverse transducer, then the output entropy is equal to the input entropy. This is because the inverse transducer essentially reverses the mapping, so the probabilities of the input symbols and the output symbols are the same, resulting in the same entropy.
  • #1
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HI,

I am reading Shannon's paper on Theory of Communication and I having trouble with a concept.
Shannon writes:

The output of a finite state transducer driven by a finite state statistical source is a finite state statistical source, with entropy (per unit time) less than or equal to that of the input. If the transducer is non-singular they are equal.
Let α represent the state of the source, which produces a sequence of symbols xi; and let β be the state of the transducer, which produces, in its output, blocks of symbols yj. The combined system can be represented by the "product state space" of pairs (α,β). Two points in the space (α1,β1)and (α2,β2), are connected by a line if α1 can produce an x which changes β1 to β2, and this line is given the probability of that x in this case. The line is labelled with the block of yj symbols produced by the transducer. The entropy of the output can be calculated as the weighted sum over the states. If we sum first on β each resulting term is less than or equal to the corresponding term for α, hence the entropy is not increased. If the transducer is non-singular, let its output be connected to the inverse transducer. If H′1, H′2 and H′3 are the output entropies of the source, the first and second transducers respectively, then H′1≥H′2≥H′3=H′1 and therefore H′1=H′2.


I am not able to show the decrease or equality in entropy mathematically. This is what I have got:

[itex] H(y|\beta)=-\sum_{i,j}P(\beta_i)P(y_j|\beta_i)log\left[P(y_j|\beta_i)\right][/itex]
[itex] H(y|\beta)=-\sum_{j}P(\beta_1)P(y_j|\beta_1)log\left[P(y_j|\beta_1)\right]+P(\beta_2)P(y_j|\beta_2)log\left[P(y_j|\beta_2)\right]+..=\sum_iH(y|\beta_i)[/itex]
Now assume that there exist states [itex]\alpha_k[/itex] with output [itex]x_{l}^{k}[/itex] which cause the transition from [itex]\beta_1 \rightarrow \beta_2[/itex]
Then entropy of those states which cause this particular transition with a particular input is:
[itex]H(\beta_1\rightarrow\beta_2|\alpha_k)=H(x_l^k|\alpha_k)=-\sum_{k,l}P(\alpha_k)P(x_{l}^{k}|\alpha_k)log\left[P(x_{l}^{k}|\alpha_k)\right] [/itex]

My guess is that there is exists a relation between [itex]P(\beta_i)P(y_j|\beta_i)[/itex] and [itex]P(\alpha_k)P(x_{l}^{k}|\alpha_k)[/itex] but I just can't see it.

I forgot to add that the output of the transducer and the next state of the transducer are determined by these functions:
[itex] y_n=f(x_n,\beta_n) [/itex]
[itex] \beta_{n+1}=g(x_n,\beta_n) [/itex]
But Shannon doesn't mention whether these mappings are bijective or not.
 
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  • #2
I think that the key idea here is that Shannon is showing that the entropy of the output of the transducer is not increased. To do this, he shows that the entropy of the output of the transducer is equal to the sum of the entropies of the states that cause the transition from one state of the transducer to another. This means that the entropy of the output is determined by the probabilities of the input symbols that cause the transition from one state of the transducer to another. In other words, the entropy of the output is determined by the probability of the input symbols that are mapped to the output symbols. This essentially shows that the entropy of the output is not increased.
 

1. What is Shannon Information Theory?

Shannon Information Theory is a mathematical theory that was developed by Claude Shannon in 1948. It deals with the concept of information and how it can be quantified, transmitted, and processed. It has applications in fields such as communication systems, cryptography, and data compression.

2. How does Shannon Information Theory relate to transducer entropy?

Transducer entropy is a concept within Shannon Information Theory that refers to the amount of uncertainty or randomness in a transducer's output. This means that as the transducer's output becomes more random or unpredictable, its entropy increases.

3. Why doesn't transducer entropy increase in Shannon Information Theory?

In Shannon Information Theory, the entropy of a transducer's output is based on the amount of uncertainty in the input signals. However, the transducer itself is not considered to have any inherent entropy. This means that even if the input signals become more random, the entropy of the transducer's output will not increase.

4. How does Shannon Information Theory impact communication systems?

Shannon Information Theory is highly relevant in the field of communication systems. It provides a framework for understanding how information can be transmitted efficiently and reliably over a noisy channel. It also helps in designing communication systems that can handle various types of data and noise levels.

5. What are some real-world applications of Shannon Information Theory?

Shannon Information Theory has numerous applications in various fields, including communication systems, data compression, cryptography, and speech recognition. It has also been used in fields such as biology, finance, and psychology to study information processing and decision-making.

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