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14 - Block-Sorting Compression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2023

Paolo Ferragina
Affiliation:
University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
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Summary

This chapter describes a data compression technique devised by Mike Burrows and David Wheeler in 1994 at DEC Systems Research Center. This technique is known as the Burrows–Wheeler Transform (or BWT) and offers a revolutionary alternative to dictionary-based and statistical compressors. It is the algorithmic core of a new class of data compressors (such as bzip2), as well as of new powerful compressed indexes (such as the FM-index). The chapter describes the algorithmic details of the BWT and of two other simple compressors, Move-to-Front and Run-Length Encoding, whose combination constitutes the design core of bzip-based compressors. This description is accompanied by the theoretical analysis of the impact of BWT on data compression, in terms of the k-th order empirical entropy of the input data, and by a sketch of the main algorithmic issues that underlie the design of the first provably compressed suffix array to date, namely the FM-index. Given the technicalities involved in the description of the BWT and the FM-index, this chapter offers several running examples and illustrative figures which should ease their understanding.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Block-Sorting Compression
  • Paolo Ferragina, University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
  • Book: Pearls of Algorithm Engineering
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009128933.015
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  • Block-Sorting Compression
  • Paolo Ferragina, University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
  • Book: Pearls of Algorithm Engineering
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009128933.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Block-Sorting Compression
  • Paolo Ferragina, University of Pisa and Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
  • Book: Pearls of Algorithm Engineering
  • Online publication: 08 June 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009128933.015
Available formats
×