Communication complexity

the long version

Many aspects of the internal and external workings of computers can be viewed, at different levels, as a series of communication processes. Communication complexity is the mathematical theory of such communication processes. It extends Shannon's information theory, allowing two-way communication and arbitrary processes. This book surveys the mathematical theory, concentrating on the question of how much communication is necessary for any particular process. This is an essential resource for graduate students and researchers in theoretical computer science, circuits, networks, VLSI, and information theory.