CompreX: XML compression applied to the airborne Internet

As the airborne Internet emerges from pure conceptualization to actual implementation, the physical limitations of the airborne environment will become a significant issue. While land-based network applications benefit from nearly unlimited bandwidth, near-zero transmission latencies and potentially unlimited computational power, airborne resources are limited in all three of these areas. In order to move the development of the airborne Internet forward so that it will become a viable reality, solutions to these limitations must be explored and developed. This paper presents an approach being developed by Architecture Technology Corporation to provide an approach to XML compression, collectively called "CompreX", that would be suitable for implementation in the airborne Internet environment. CompreX follows a three-pronged approach to compressing XML communications, which include an XML-tuned compression algorithm, an XML binary encoder and a process called inter-document redundancy compression. This paper presents the results of preliminary research and testing in each of these three areas