Data compression systems and methods

• US 8,643,513 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2011
• Issued: 02/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Realtime Data LLC (Realtime Data Compression Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Realtime Data LLC (Realtime Data Compression Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Fallon, James J.
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, LINH V
• APPLICATION: US 20110285559A1
• Time in patent office: 974 Days
• Field of Search: 341/51.65, 341/67, 341/79, 341/87, 341/106, 341/107
• US Class Current: 341/51
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 9/00 Image coding bandwidth or redundancy reduction for static pictures H04N1/41; coding or decoding of static colour picture signals H04N1/64; methods or arrangements for coding, decoding, compressing or decompressing digital video signals H04N19/00
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/3059 Digital compression and data reduction techniques where the original information is represented by a subset or similar information, e.g. lossy compression
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/3088 employing the use of a dictionary, e.g. LZ78
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/40 Conversion to or from variable length codes, e.g. Shannon-Fano code, Huffman code, Morse code
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 7/4006 Conversion to or from arithmetic code
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/607 Stream encoding details interfacing the downstream path of a video distribution network H04N21/238, H04N21/438; controlling the complexity of a video stream H04N21/2662, H04N21/4621, H04N21/64792; protocols for data compression H04L69/04; header parsing or analysis H04L69/22

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing fast and efficient data compression using a combination of content independent data compression and content dependent data compression. In one aspect, a method for compressing data comprises the steps of: analyzing a data block of an input data stream to identify a data type of the data block, the input data stream comprising a plurality of disparate data types; performing content dependent data compression on the data block, if the data type of the data block is identified; performing content independent data compression on the data block, if the data type of the data block is not identified.

Claims

1. A method of compressing a plurality of data blocks, comprising:

analyzing the plurality of data blocks to recognize when an appropriate content independent compression algorithm is to be applied to the plurality of data blocks;

applying the appropriate content independent data compression algorithm to a portion of the plurality of data blocks to provide a compressed data portion;

analyzing a data block from another portion of the plurality of data blocks for recognition of any characteristic, attribute, or parameter that is indicative of an appropriate content dependent algorithm to apply to the data block; and

applying the appropriate content dependent data compression algorithm to the data block to provide a compressed data block when the characteristic, attribute, or parameter is identified,

wherein the analyzing the plurality of data blocks to recognize when the appropriate content independent compression algorithm is to be applied excludes analyzing based only on a descriptor indicative of the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter, and

wherein the analyzing the data block to recognize the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter excludes analyzing based only on the descriptor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the plurality of data blocks having uncompressed data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing the plurality of data blocks and the applying the content independent data compression algorithm occurs before the analyzing the data block and the applying the content dependent data compression algorithm.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing the data block and the applying the content dependent data compression algorithm occurs before the analyzing the plurality of data blocks and the applying the content independent data compression algorithm.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the compressed data portion and the compressed data block.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

appending a recognizable data token to the compressed data block, the recognizable data token being indicative of the content dependent data compression algorithm applied to the data block.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the plurality of data blocks in their original form when the appropriate content independent data compression algorithm is not applied; and

storing the data block in its original form when the appropriate content dependent data compression algorithm is not applied.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

appending a recognizable data token to the data block that indicates that no data compression algorithm has been applied to the data block.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing of the data block for recognition of the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter occurs after the analyzing the plurality of data blocks to recognize when the appropriate content independent compression algorithm is to be applied.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content independent and content dependent algorithms are applied serially.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing the plurality of data blocks includes analyzing data structures or file substructures associated with the plurality of data blocks.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the applied content independent compression algorithm reduces repetition of data.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter is associated with a data block format or a file type information associated with the data block.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the content dependent compression algorithm is chosen to optimize compression of content of the data block based on the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter.

15. A device for compressing data comprising:

a first circuit configured to analyze a plurality of data blocks to recognize when an appropriate content independent compression algorithm is to be applied to the plurality of data blocks;

a second circuit configured to apply the appropriate content independent data compression algorithm to a portion of the plurality of data blocks to provide a compressed data portion;

a third circuit configured to analyze a data block from another portion of the plurality of data blocks for recognition of any characteristic, attribute, or parameter that is indicative of an appropriate content dependent algorithm to apply to the data block; and

a fourth circuit configured to apply the appropriate content dependent data compression algorithm to the data block to provide a compressed data block when the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter is identified,

wherein the first circuit is further configured to analyze the plurality of data blocks to recognize when the appropriate content independent compression algorithm is to be applied by excluding analyzing based only on a descriptor indicative of the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter, and

wherein the third circuit is further configured to analyze the data block to recognize the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter by excluding analyzing based only on the descriptor.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the data block is received uncompressed.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the compressed data portion and the compressed data block are stored in a memory.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the content independent and content dependent algorithms are applied serially.

19. The device of claim 15, wherein the first circuit is further configured to analyze data structures or file substructures associated with the plurality of data blocks.

20. The device of claim 15, wherein the applied content independent compression algorithm reduces repetition of data.

21. The device of claim 15, wherein the any characteristic, attribute, or parameter is associated with a data block format or a file type information associated with the data block.

22. The device of claim 15, wherein the content dependent compression algorithm is chosen to optimize compression of content of the data block based on the characteristic, attribute, or parameter.