Method and system for storing and retrieving compressed data
First Claim
1. A method of storing and retrieving data comprising the steps of determining from a multiplicity of source data records a group of attributes which represent selected types of characteristics of the source data records and selected types of relationships between elements of source data records, each attribute having an associated predetermined set of rules which define different specific characteristics or relationships of the types represented by that attribute, and each rule of the set being designated by a corresponding attribute value;
- assigning to each source data record a set of attribute values, one attribute value for each of said attributes, each attribute value designating a particular one of the rules of the associated set of rules which specified a particular characteristic or relationship of the source record;
assigning to the source data record another set of modifier values for use with the rules designated by the attribute values assigned to such source data record, the modifier values comprising explicit data values which together with such rules express information contained in the source data record;
forming a compressed data record from the attribute values and the modifier values; and
storing in a data storage the compressed data record in place of said source data record.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for storing and retrieving compressed data such as ZIP+4 add-on'"'"'s for postal addresses, compresses source data records by defining a group of attributes which represent the characteristics of source data records and the relationships between source data records and between elements of source data records, each attribute having an associated predetermined set of rules which define specifically the characteristics or relationships represented by that attribute. Source data records are compressed by assigning to a record a tuple of attribute values and a set of modifier values. The attribute values each designate a particular one of the set of rules for its corresponding attribute, and the modifier values comprise values which are used by the rules to express the information content of the source data record. The compressed data records are stored in a memory having a hierarchical data organization along with memory address elements for accessing compressed data records. The memory is controlled by a microprocessor which accesses compressed data records, decodes the identifier and modifier fields of the record, and decompresses the record in accordance with the rules specified by the attribute values.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. A method of storing and retrieving data comprising the steps of determining from a multiplicity of source data records a group of attributes which represent selected types of characteristics of the source data records and selected types of relationships between elements of source data records, each attribute having an associated predetermined set of rules which define different specific characteristics or relationships of the types represented by that attribute, and each rule of the set being designated by a corresponding attribute value;
- assigning to each source data record a set of attribute values, one attribute value for each of said attributes, each attribute value designating a particular one of the rules of the associated set of rules which specified a particular characteristic or relationship of the source record;
assigning to the source data record another set of modifier values for use with the rules designated by the attribute values assigned to such source data record, the modifier values comprising explicit data values which together with such rules express information contained in the source data record;
forming a compressed data record from the attribute values and the modifier values; and
storing in a data storage the compressed data record in place of said source data record. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
- assigning to each source data record a set of attribute values, one attribute value for each of said attributes, each attribute value designating a particular one of the rules of the associated set of rules which specified a particular characteristic or relationship of the source record;
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16. A method of compressing source data which includes a multiplicity of source data records, comprising the steps of sorting the source data records into sequential order;
- constructing corresponding compressed data records by forming each compressed data record as a combination of a tuple of attribute values which represent selected characteristics of said compressed data record and designates a computational relationship between successive source data records and a set of modifier data values which together with the characteristics and the computational relationship specify information contained in a source data record in terms of the information content of a previous source data record; and
storing said compressed data records in place of the source data records. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
- constructing corresponding compressed data records by forming each compressed data record as a combination of a tuple of attribute values which represent selected characteristics of said compressed data record and designates a computational relationship between successive source data records and a set of modifier data values which together with the characteristics and the computational relationship specify information contained in a source data record in terms of the information content of a previous source data record; and
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23. A method of storing ZIP+4 postal source data in compressed form and of retrieving a ZIP+4 add-on for a given postal address, there being a plurality of different types of postal addresses and each type of postal address having associated therewith a plurality of source data records, the method comprising the steps of, for each different type of postal address, ordering corresponding source data records into a hierachical organization which is inherent in the source data;
- compressing the ordered source data records to produce corresponding compressed data records, the compressed data records including records which contain a postal address range and add-ons for postal addresses in that range, said compressing comprising defining sets of rules which prescribe ways of computing range values which specify said postal address range and add-ons for postal addresses in such range in terms of other range values and add-ons for other postal address ranges, assigning to each compressed data record a tuple of attribute values which specify particular rules of said sets of rules and modifier values for use with the rules specified by the attribute values for reproducing information contained in the corresponding source data record;
storing the compressed data record in a corresponding table in a memory, there being a plurality of files in each table, one for each zip code, and a plurality of tables in said memory, at least one table for each type of postal address;
converting a zip code for the given postal address into a memory address which accesses the file for that zip code in the table for the given postal address type;
sequentially decoding compressed data records in the accessed file;
comparing the given postal address with the address range in each decoded compressed data record; and
, upon a match being obtained, computing from the compressed data record the add-on for the given postal address. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
- compressing the ordered source data records to produce corresponding compressed data records, the compressed data records including records which contain a postal address range and add-ons for postal addresses in that range, said compressing comprising defining sets of rules which prescribe ways of computing range values which specify said postal address range and add-ons for postal addresses in such range in terms of other range values and add-ons for other postal address ranges, assigning to each compressed data record a tuple of attribute values which specify particular rules of said sets of rules and modifier values for use with the rules specified by the attribute values for reproducing information contained in the corresponding source data record;
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35. A system for storing and retrieving data comprising a memory for storing compressed data records corresponding to source data records, each compressed data record comprising an identifier and a modifier which are concatenated, the identifier comprising a code representing a tuple of attribute values, each attribute value designating a particular one of a predetermined set of rules which specify relationships between elements of a corresponding source data record and between the source data record and another source data record, the modifier comprising a set of modifier values for use with the rules designated by the attribute values for reproducing information contained in the corresponding source data record;
- and controller means for retrieving a compressed data record from the memory, the controller means including means for processing the compressed data record in accordance with the rules designated by the attribute values and the modifier values to reproduce the information content of the corresponding source data record.
- View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A system for storing ZIP+4 postal information and for retrieving a ZIP+4 add-on for a given postal address comprising memory means for storing compressed ZIP+4 postal source data, and a controller for retrieving and decompressing the compressed source data, the memory means comprising a plurality of tables for storing compressed data records for different types of postal addresses;
- a first array for converting a zip code representative of a postal zone into a corresponding Zip Index;
a plurality of second arrays, each accessed by the Zip Index, for storing address pointers to locations of files in the tables corresponding to the Zip Index, each file comprising a plurality of concatenated compressed data records, each compressed data record comprising an identifier field and a modifier field, the identifier field containing a code representative of a tuple of attribute values which designate a predetermined set of rules which specify relationships between elements of a corresponding source data record and between the corresponding source data record and another source data record, and the modifier field comprising a set of modifier values for use by the rules specified by the attribute values for reproducing information contained in the corresponding source data record. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
- a first array for converting a zip code representative of a postal zone into a corresponding Zip Index;
Specification