The entropy rate of a source {Xi}i=1∞ with alphabet X is denoted by H(X) and defined by H(X):=n→∞limn1H(Xn)provided that the limit exists.
For a stationary source {Xi}i=1∞, the sequence of conditional entropies {H(Xi∣Xi−1)}i=1∞ is decreasing in i and has a limit denoted by H~(X):=i→∞limH(Xi∣Xi−1)
For a stationary source {Xi}i=1∞, its entropy rate H(X) always exists and is equal to H~(X): H(X)=H~(X)=n→∞limH(Xn∣Xn−1)