Title :
Compression of embedded system programs
Author :
Kozuch, Michael ; Wolfe, Andrew
Author_Institution :
Princeton Univ., NJ, USA
Abstract :
Embedded systems are often sensitive to space, weight, and cost considerations. Reducing the size of stored programs can significantly improve these factors. This paper discusses a program compression methodology based on existing processor architectures. The authors examine practical and theoretical measures for the maximum compression rate of a suite of programs across six modern architectures. The theoretical compression rate is reported in terms of the zeroth and first-order entropies, while the practical compression rate is reported in terms of the Huffman-encoded format of the proposed compression methodology and the GNU file compression utility, gzip. These experiments indicate that a practical increase of 15%-30% and a theoretical increase of over 100% in code density can be expected using the techniques examined. In addition, a novel, greedy, variable-length-to variable-length encoding algorithm is presented with preliminary results
Keywords :
Huffman codes; data compression; encoding; programming; real-time systems; GNU file compression utility; Huffman-encoded format; code density; cost; embedded system program compression; gzip; maximum compression rate; processor architectures; program compression methodology; space; stored program size; theoretical compression rate; weight; Code standards; Control systems; Costs; Data compression; Embedded computing; Embedded system; Encoding; Energy consumption; Engines; Reduced instruction set computing;
Conference_Titel :
Computer Design: VLSI in Computers and Processors, 1994. ICCD '94. Proceedings., IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Cambridge, MA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-6565-3
DOI :
10.1109/ICCD.1994.331903