A SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING DATA COMPRESSION BASED ON A LIV-ZEMPEL ALGORITHM

Data compression using a Liv-Zempel algorithm is enhanced by organizing strings of data in a dictionary using a set of related four related fields. The first field contains an index or codeword for the last character of the string currently being processed. The second field contains an index or codeword for a SON string, a string which includes all of the characters of the current string plus one additional character. The third field contains an index or codeword for a BROTHER string which is identical to the current string except that the last characters in the two strings differ. The fourth field contains an index or codeword for a PARENT to the current string. The PARENT includes all of the characters of the current string except the last character. The memory arrangement comprises a tree structure which can be efficiently accessed by a disclosed processor to perform data compression using minimal processing resources.