Efficient data compression for solid-state memory

An apparatus comprising:

• a data input interface to receive a compressed stream to be decompressed;
• a data output interface to provide a decompressed stream for use by a receiving device;
• a data buffer coupled to the data input interface and to buffer the compressed stream;
• a history buffer of a fixed size that is a fraction of a size of the data buffer, the history buffer being used to store the decompressed stream;
• and
• a decompression parser coupled to the data buffer and to the history buffer, the decompression parser to decode element types sequentially along the compressed stream, to output bytes corresponding to the element types deterministically, and to store a certain number of most-recently decoded bytes within the history buffer;
• wherein the element types comprise pointers, the pointers referencing copies of data found elsewhere within the compressed stream of at least a minimum match length, the pointers being of a fixed number of bytes;
• and
• wherein the fixed number of bytes is two and the minimum match length is set to four bytes, wherein one bit of the pointers is encoded with an element type and four bits of the pointers are encoded with a length of the copies, such that copies comprise lengths between four and nineteen bytes, and wherein eleven bits of the pointers are encoded with an offset of a back reference to a copy.

A method comprising:

• identifying a data buffer size of solid-state drive (SSD) memory to store an input stream of data;
• sizing a history buffer of a compression engine to be of a fixed size that is a fraction of a size of the data buffer;
• adapting, using at least one processor, compression logic of the compression engine to function with the history buffer of the fixed size when executed by the compression engine;
• setting pointers generated by the compression engine to a fixed number of bytes, the pointers to reference copies of records within the input stream larger than the fixed number bytes and of at least a minimum match length, wherein the minimum match length specifies a minimum length of a copy of a record;
• setting the fixed number of bytes to two and the minimum match length of the pointers to four bytes;
• using one bit of the pointers to encode an element type and four bits of the pointers to encode a length of the copies, such that copies comprise lengths between four and nineteen bytes;
• and
• using eleven bits of the pointers to encode an offset of a back reference to a copy.

A method comprising:

• identifying a data buffer size of solid-state drive (SSD) memory to store a compressed stream of data to be decompressed;
• sizing a history buffer of a decompression engine to be of a fixed size that is a fraction of a size of the data buffer;
• adapting, using at least one processor, decompression logic of the decompression engine to function with the history buffer of the fixed size when executed by the decompression engine;
• setting pointers generated by the decompression engine to a fixed number of bytes, the pointers to reference copies of records within the compressed stream larger than the fixed number bytes and of at least a minimum match length, wherein the minimum match length specifies a minimum length of a copy of a record;
• setting the fixed number of bytes to two and the minimum match length of the pointers to four bytes;
• using one bit of the pointers to encode an element type and four bits of the pointers to encode a length of the copies, such that copies comprise lengths between four and nineteen bytes;
• and
• using eleven bits of the pointers to encode an offset of a back reference to a copy.