ABSTRACT
Information, derived from the Latin word informatio, means a representation, an outline, or a sketch. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary [28] includes such definitions as “1. the communication or reception of knowledge or intelligence; 2. knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction; 3. a numerical quantity that measures the uncertainty in the outcome of an experiment to be performed; 4. intelligence, news, facts, data…” From these definitions it appears that information has two aspects, a quantitative characteristic and a qualitative characteristic. The qualitative aspect of information, corresponding to the value of the data, is of utmost importance to the user who understands its meaning. This aspect of information is of no interest to the telecommunications expert, nor to the telecommunications system. It is the quantitative aspect of information that is important to the communications system. The user of a communications system is concerned only with the knowledge the system provides with each new input.
