A fast algorithm for constructing nearly optimal prefix codes

Summary Huffman algorithm allows for constructing optimal prefix‐codes with O(n·logn) complexity. As the number of symbols ngrows, so does the complexity of building the code‐words. In this paper, a new algorithm and implementation are proposed that achieve nearly optimal coding without sorting the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSoftware, practice & experience Vol. 46; no. 10; pp. 1299 - 1316
Main Authors Osorio, Roberto R., González, Patricia
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bognor Regis Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2016
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
Subjects
Algorithms
Buildings
Coding
Complexity
Compressing
Construction
Data compression
Huffman algorithm
Optimization
prefix-codes
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Summary Huffman algorithm allows for constructing optimal prefix‐codes with O(n·logn) complexity. As the number of symbols ngrows, so does the complexity of building the code‐words. In this paper, a new algorithm and implementation are proposed that achieve nearly optimal coding without sorting the probabilities or building a tree of codes. The complexity is proportional to the maximum code length, making the algorithm especially attractive for large alphabets. The focus is put on achieving almost optimal coding with a fast implementation, suitable for real‐time compression of large volumes of data. A practical case example about checkpoint files compression is presented, providing encouraging results. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-CK3TQS7B-5
istex:EB52639860D3F16699684D3DBC688F8D93622661
ArticleID:SPE2375
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0038-0644
1097-024X
DOI:10.1002/spe.2375