Patent ID: 7499595

Claim:
A method of processing, using hardware that may include one or more processors, the processing being of an ordered series of digital signals that each have a respective value including a respective amplitude from a finite set of amplitudes consisting of the most likely-to-occur amplitude and at least one other amplitude, the at least one other amplitude including a next most likely-to-occur amplitude to the most likely-to-occur amplitude, the processing to reduce the amount of data used to represent the digital signals and to form codewords such that the relatively more likely-to-occur values or sequences of values of digital signals are represented by relatively short codewords and the relatively less likely-to-occur values or sequences of values of digital signals are represented by relatively long codewords, the method comprising: for a first contiguous region in the series: identifying clusters that each include one or more consecutive signals having any amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, and any intervening runs of consecutive signals having the most likely-to-occur value; for each identified cluster of signals having any amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude: identifying at least one position event to define the relative positions and runlengths of the identified cluster of signals having any amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, and any intervening runs of consecutive coefficients having the most likely-to-occur value; identifying at least one amplitude event, the identified amplitude events defining the amplitudes of the signals in the identified cluster of consecutive signals having amplitudes other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude; and jointly encoding the identified position events and the identified amplitude events to jointly encode relative position and the amplitudes of the consecutive signals having amplitude other than the most likely-to-occur amplitude, the jointly encoding being according to a multi-dimensional coding function of the position event and of the amplitude event, the jointly encoding arranged such that relatively short codewords are used to represent the relative positions and amplitudes of clusters that are more likely-to-occur, and relatively long codewords are used to represent the relative positions and amplitudes of clusters that are relatively less likely-to-occur.