System and method for encoding and decoding data files

• US 20030034905A1
• Filed: 05/17/2002
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cyber Operations LLC
• Original Assignee: Cyber Operations LLC
• Inventors: Anton, Richard N., Sias, Dustin W., Newland, Robert G. Jr., Etheridge, James K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,246,177 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 341/51
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/30 Compression speech analysis-synthesis for redundancy reduction G10L19/00; for image communication H04N; Expansion; Suppression of unnecessary data, e.g. redundancy reduction

Abstract

Distributed compression of a data file can comprise a master server module for breaking the data file into data blocks and for transmitting the data blocks to worker server modules. A first worker server module can compress a first data block using a first compression algorithm, resulting in a first compressed data block. A second worker server module can compress the second data block using a second compression algorithm, resulting in a second compressed data block. The first and second compression algorithms can comprise the same algorithm or different algorithms. An archive module can save the first and second compressed data blocks in an archive file for storage or for transmission over a communication network. The worker server modules also can compress the respective data blocks using multiple compression algorithms and can choose the highest compressed result.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for performing distributed compression of a data file, said method comprising the steps of:

breaking the data file into a first data block and a second data block;

transmitting the first data block to a first worker server module;

transmitting the second data block to a second worker server module;

a first compressing step of compressing the first data block by the first worker server module, resulting in a first compressed data block; and

a second compressing step of compressing the second data block by the second worker server module, resulting in a second compressed data block.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first and second compressing steps comprise using the same compression algorithm to compress the first and second data blocks, respectively.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of assembling the first and second compressed data blocks in an order corresponding to the data file.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first compressing step comprises using a first compression algorithm to compress the first data block, and

wherein said second compressing step comprises using a second compression algorithm to compress the second data block.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

a first associating step of associating the first compression algorithm with the first data block; and

a second associating step of associating the second compression algorithm with the second data block.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein said first compressing step comprises the steps of:

using a plurality of compression algorithms to independently compress the first data block, resulting in a plurality of compressed data blocks each having a compression ratio; and

selecting the compressed data block having the highest compression ratio as the first compressed data block.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining a status of the first worker server module and a status of the second worker server module,

wherein said transmitting steps are performed in response to the status of the first and second worker server modules.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the status of the first worker server module indicates that the first worker server module is available, and

wherein said step of transmitting the first data block is performed in response to the indication that the first worker server module is available.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

tracking a compression status of the first and second data blocks; and

determining a completion of the first and second compressing steps based on the compression status of the first and second data blocks, respectively.

10. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 1.

11. A system for performing distributed compression of a data file, comprising:

a master server module operable for breaking the data file into a first data block and a second data block and for assigning a first compression algorithm to the first data block and a second compression algorithm to the second data block;

a first worker server module operable for receiving the first data block from said master server module and for compressing the first data block using the first compression algorithm;

a second worker server module operable for receiving the second data block from said master server module and for compressing the second data block using the second compression algorithm.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second algorithms comprise the same algorithm.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first and second algorithms comprise different algorithms.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein said first and second worker server modules are further operable for transmitting the first and second compressed data blocks to said master server, and

wherein said master server module is further operable for assembling the first and second compressed data blocks in an order corresponding to the data file.

15. The system according to claim 14, further comprising an archive encoding module,

wherein said master server module is further operable for transmitting the first and second compressed data blocks to said archive encoding module, and

wherein said archive encoding module is operable for encapsulating the first and second compressed data blocks in an archive file.

16. The system according to claim 11, wherein said master server module is further operable for assigning a third compression algorithm to the first data block, and

wherein said first worker server module is further operable for compressing the first data block using the third compression algorithm and for selecting a highest compressed result from the compression of the first data block using the first compression algorithm and using the third compression algorithm.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein said master server module is further operable to determine whether said first worker server module is available and for transmitting the first data block to said first worker server module in response to a determination that the first worker server module is available.

18. A computer-implemented method for transmitting web page data over a communication network, the web page data comprising a root document file and a dependent document file, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a web page request for the web page data;

compressing the root document file to create a compressed version of the root document file;

compressing the dependent document file to create a compressed version of the dependent document file;

encapsulating the compressed versions of the root document file and the dependent document file in a web archive; and

transmitting the web archive during a single connection on the communication network in response to the web page request.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising the step of determining whether the root document file references the dependent document file,

wherein said step of compressing the dependent document file is performed in response to a determination that the root document file references the dependent document file.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

decompressing the web archive to produce the root document and the dependent document; and

rendering the root document and the dependent document on a user interface.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein said decompressing step comprises the steps of:

receiving the web archive;

decompressing the compressed version of the root document file to produce the root document file;

decompressing the compressed version of the dependent document file to produce the dependent document file;

storing the dependent document file;

rendering the root document file on the user interface; and

rendering the dependent document file on the user interface as referenced by the root document file.

22. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 18.

23. A system for transmitting web page data over a communication network, the web page data comprising a root document file and a dependent document file, said system comprising the steps of:

a client comprising a web page request module operable for transmitting a web page request for the web page data; and

a server module operable for

receiving the web page request from said client,

compressing the root document file to create a compressed version of the root document file,

determining whether the root document file references the dependent document file,

compressing the dependent document file to create a compressed version of the dependent document file in response to a determination that the root document file references the dependent document file,

storing the compressed versions of the root document file and the dependent document file in a web archive, and

transmitting the web archive to said client during a single connection on the communication network in response to the web page request.

24. The system according to claim 23, further comprising a user interface,

wherein said client further comprises a web browser module operable for

receiving the web archive from said server module,

decompressing the web archive to produce the root document and the dependent document, and

rendering the root document and the dependent document on said user interface.

25. A computer-implemented method for performing forced order compression of a data file comprising first and second data blocks, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a desired order for the first and second data blocks;

a first compressing step of compressing the first data block to create a first compressed data block; and

a second compressing step of compressing the second data block to create a second compressed data block that is dependent on the first compressed data block, the second data block being subsequent to the first data block in the desired order,

wherein decompression of the second compressed data block is dependent upon decompression of the first data block.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein said second compressing step comprises compressing the second data block without resetting a compression algorithm state used to compress the first data block in said first compressing step.

27. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 25.

28. A computer-implemented method for performing forced order compression of first and second data files, said method comprising the steps of:

determining a desired order for the first and second data files;

a first compressing step of compressing the first data file to create a first compressed data file; and

a second compressing step of compressing the second data file to create a second compressed data file that is dependent on the first compressed data file, the second data file being subsequent to the first data file in the desired order,

wherein decompression of the second compressed data file is dependent upon decompression of the first data file.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein said second compressing step comprises compressing the second data file without resetting a compression algorithm state used to compress the first data file in said first compressing step.

30. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the steps recited in claim 28.