The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 13, 2001
Filed:
Apr. 03, 1998
Jeffrey D. Kurtze, Nashua, NH (US);
Joseph H. Rice, Lexington, MA (US);
Robert Gonsalves, Wellesley, MA (US);
Chia-Sheng Chou, Cambridge, MA (US);
Avid Technology, Inc., Tewksbury, MA (US);
Abstract
An encoding/decoding method and apparatus encodes an input data stream for compression purposes, and decodes the compressed data stream for use. The encoding process identifies trends in the data stream, and stores information about the trends in an encoded block. The trends may include runs, in which sequential, corresponding gropus in the data stream have constant values. The trends may also include ramps, where sequential, corresponging components in the data stream increase or decrease by a linear value. An encoded block may also be provided to transfer raw data. The encoded blocks do not store type information describing the type of the component associated with the block. Rather, the decoder infers the type of the components associated with the encoded block according to an original order of components in the data stream, the order of the encoded block in the sequence of encoded blocks and a number of the corresponding components encoded by each of the preceding encoded blocks. Once the type of the component is determined, the decoder reconstructs the data stream by translating the encoded trend information into component values. The encoded data stream is thus decoded without any loss in data accuracy. Because type information need not be transferred to the decoder, the size of the encoded block is further reduced, thereby enhancing the compression capabilities of the present invention.