Multilevel digital information compression based on lawrence algorithm

A method for encoding a variable-length, multilevel sequence of source symbols into a fixed-length codeword block comprising the steps of:

• a) making a one-to-one correspondence between a set of variable-length, multilevel source symbol sequences and a set of fixed-length binary sequences, and
• b) using said fixed-length, binary sequences as the codewords for said variable-length, multilevel symbol sequences
• whereby each source symbol sequence will be compressed by a compression ratio equal to the length of said source symbol sequence divided by the length of said codeword when both are expressed in the same units.

An encoder apparatus for encoding a variable-length, multilevel sequence of source symbols into a fixed-length codeword block comprising:

• a) a means for making a one-to-one correspondence between a set of variable-length, multilevel source symbol sequences and a set of fixed-length binary sequences, and
• b) a means for using said fixed-length, binary sequences as the codewords for said variable-length, multilevel symbol sequences
• whereby each source symbol sequence will be compressed by a compression ratio equal to the length of said source symbol sequence divided by the length of said codeword when both are expressed in the same units.

A method for decoding a fixed-length codeword block into a variable-length, multilevel sequence of source symbols comprising the steps of:

• a) making a one-to-one correspondence between a set of fixed-length codewords or parts thereof and a set of variable-length, multilevel source symbol sequences, and
• b) using said codewords or parts thereof as pointers to said variable-length, multilevel symbol sequences
• whereby each source symbol sequence is compressed by a compression ratio equal to the length of said source symbol sequence divided by the length of said codeword when both are expressed in the same units.

An apparatus for decoding a fixed-length codeword block into a variable-length, multilevel sequence of source symbols comprising:

• a) a means for making a one-to-one correspondence between a set of fixed-length codewords or parts thereof and a set of variable-length, multilevel source symbol sequences, and
• b) a means for using said codewords or parts thereof as pointers to said variable-length, multilevel symbol sequences
• whereby each source symbol sequence is compressed by a compression ratio equal to the length of said source symbol sequence divided by the length of said codeword when both are expressed in the same units.