A Method to Compress Schema-Based XML Metadata for Mobile Environments

Efficient and error-free packaging and communication of XML metadata are critical in achieving seamless mobility. This paper describes an XML binary compression technology using both schema knowledge (to separate the structural and value portions of XML metadata) and suitable compression techniques for different metadata portions. The compression results are superior to comparable XML compression mechanisms. In addition, the compression efficiency has much less dependency on the metadata size. This compression technology also goes beyond existing metadata compression technologies by providing a direct mapping of XML metadata into a database interface so that the decoded metadata can be directly queried for retrieval. Finally, error resilient features are an integral part of the compressed metadata bitstream so that data corrupted during transmissions can be detected within isolated groups and exclusively retransmitted for efficient network resource utilization.