Abstract: A system and method for the on-demand transcoding of media content from a source type to a destination type is provided, wherein the system includes a plurality of transcoders for transcoding from a plurality of source types to a plurality of destination types, and wherein the system receives a transcoding request for media content, fetches the media content in response to the transcoding request, sends the media content to one of the plurality of transcoders based on the source type and destination type, transcodes the media content from the source type to the destination type, thereby generating transcoded media content, and transmits the transcoded media content. The system fetches, sends, and transcodes the media content and transmits the transcoded media content in a pipelined fashion. The system also provides for the publication of media content as a file or stream of digital data, for the archiving of media content, and the caching of transcoded media content to improve system efficiency.

Abstract: A decompression approach utilizing a single buffer to reduce working memory space decompression requirements. Loading a compressed data file into the "back end" of a buffer and progressively loading the resulting decompressed data into the "front end" of the buffer avoids allocating multiple buffers for the decompression process. Using a slop value to increase the size of the allocated buffer beyond the original uncompressed data size avoids inadvertently overwriting not yet uncompressed data still residing in the back end of the single buffer when storing just decompressed data in the front end of the single buffer.