Methods, devices and systems for efficient compression and decompression for higher throughput

A method for decompressing a compressed data block that comprises a plurality of compressed data values, the method comprising:

• decompressing, by a first decompression device in an array or chain layout of decompression devices, a compressed data value of said compressed data block and reducing said compressed data block by:
• extracting a codeword of said compressed data value and removing said compressed data value from the compressed data block,
• retrieving a decompressed data value out of the extracted codeword, and
• passing the reduced compressed data block to a next decompression device in the array or chain layout;
• and
• receiving, by a last decompression device in the array or chain layout, a reduced compressed data block as reduced by a preceding decompression device in the array or chain layout and decompressing another compressed data value of said compressed data block by:
• extracting a codeword of said another compressed data value, and
• retrieving another decompressed data value out of the extracted codeword.

A compression system for compressing a data block that comprises a plurality of data values, the compression system comprising:

• a plurality of compression devices arranged in an array or chain layout;
• and
• a packer being a standalone unit separate from the plurality of compression devices,
• wherein each compression device in said plurality of compression devices is configured for:
• compressing a respective one data value of the data block, and
• outputting a compressed representation of the respective one data value to the packer, and
• wherein the packer is configured for:
• receiving the compressed representations of the respective data values as compressed by the plurality of compression devices, and
• generating a compressed data block from the compressed representations.

A method for compressing a data block that comprises a plurality of data values, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of compression devices arranged in an array or chain layout;
• providing a packer being a standalone unit separate from the plurality of compression devices;
• compressing, by each compression device in said plurality of compression devices, a respective one data value of the data block;
• outputting a compressed representation of the respective one data value to the packer;
• receiving, by the packer, the compressed representations of the respective data values as compressed by the plurality of compression devices;
• and
• generating, by the packer, a compressed data block from the compressed representations.