Methods and Apparatus for Reducing Storage Size
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Accused Products
Abstract
Prediction-based compression engines are spoon-fed with sequentially efficiently compressible (SEC) streams of input data that make it possible for the compression engines to more efficiently compress or otherwise compact the incoming data than would be possible with streams of input data accepted on a TV-raster scan basis. Various techniques are disclosed for intentionally forming SEC input data streams. Among these are the tight packing of alike files or fragments into concatenation suitcases and the decomposition of files into substantially predictably consistent (SPC) fragments or segments that are routed to different suitcases according to their type. In a graphics-directed embodiment, image frames are partitioned into segment areas that are internally SPC and multidirectional walks (i.e., U-turning walks) are defined in the segment areas where these defined walks are traced during compression and also during decompression. A variety of pre-compression data transformation methods are disclosed for causing apparently random data sequences to appear more compressibly alike to each other. The methods are usable in systems that permit substantially longer times for data compaction operations than for data decompaction operations.
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Citations
108 Claims
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1-21. -21. (canceled)
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22-25. -25. (canceled)
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26-27. -27. (canceled)
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28-60. -60. (canceled)
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61-71. -71. (canceled)
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72. A machine-implemented data compression/decompression method comprising:
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(a) segmenting a data containing address space to thereby define a plurality of segments where each segment contains a consecutively addressable sequence of data containing tiles and each tile contains at least one symbol occurring in a predefined alphabet; (b) recording a first expression of a corresponding first boundary approximating plot that extends across the data containing address space where the first plot cuts through end tiles of two or more of said segments and where the first plot further lays to one side or another or on a predefined reference point of each tile it cuts through and the positioning of the reference point relative to the first plot deterministically indicates in accordance with a predefined system convention whether the cut-through tile is to be deemed as being wholly disposed to one side or the other of a segmentation boundary represented by the first boundary approximating plot; (c) beginning or discontinuing a compressing or decompressing walk through a first of said segments in response to a machine determination that a corresponding first end tile of the first segment has a reference point lying to one side or another or on the first boundary approximating plot; and (d) beginning or discontinuing a continuation of said compressing or decompressing walk through a second of said segments in response to a machine determination that a corresponding second end tile of the second segment has a reference point lying to one side or another or on the first boundary approximating plot, where the first and second segments are spaced apart address-wise from each other in said data containing address space. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78)
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79-85. -85. (canceled)
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86. A machine-implemented data compression method comprising:
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(a) identifying a subset of image tiles from among a matrix of image tiles where the identified subset contains data that is to be successively encoded into a more compact code stream by a compression engine, where each tile includes a plurality of digitized image pixels, and where said machine-implemented identifying step includes; (a.1) providing anchor point data signals that define a plurality of anchor points, where said anchor points define a boundary approximating curve that maps across said matrix of image tiles, the boundary approximating curve cutting through at least one of said identified image tiles; and (a.2) determining whether a predefined center of gravity of a given one of said image tiles is to be deemed as logically lying to one side or another of the boundary approximating curve so as to thereby determine if the given one image tile is or is not a member of said subset of image tiles whose contained is to be successively compressed by the compression engine even if the boundary approximating curve cuts through the given one image tile. - View Dependent Claims (87)
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88-106. -106. (canceled)
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107. (canceled)
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108-115. -115. (canceled)
Specification