Abstract: An automated mail sorting system including a display for displaying the image of an item of mail belonging to a carrier route, and input device for associating the image with any of a plurality of stations in a walking sequence of the carrier route, and a sorter having a reader for identifying the item of mail, to sorter for placing the item of mail in a location corresponding to the station in the walking sequence.

Abstract: An automated mail sorting system including a display for displaying the image of an item of mail belonging to a carrier route, and input device for associating the image with any of a plurality of stations in a walking sequence of the carrier route, and a sorter having a reader for identifying the item of mail, to sorter for placing the item of mail in a location corresponding to the station in the walking sequence.

Abstract: An automated mail sorting system including a display for displaying the image of an item of mail belonging to a carrier route, and input device for associating the image with any of a plurality of stations in a walking sequence of the carrier route, and a sorter having a reader for identifying the item of the mail, the sorter for placing the item of mail in a location corresponding to the station in the walking sequence.

Abstract: A system for compressing digital data at one byte-per-cycle throughput by removing redundancy before storage or transmission. The system includes an improved Ziv-Lempel LZ1 process that uses a history buffer to save the most recent source string symbols for use in encoding the source symbols as "match-length" and "match-offset" tokens. The match-length code symbols are selected from two groups of buckets that are assigned variable-length prefixes for the shorter, more probable match-lengths and a fixed-length prefix code for the longer, less probable match-lengths. This exploits a transition from Laplacian match-length probability distribution to Uniform match-length probability distribution for longer match-lengths. The offset code field length is reduced during start-up to improve start-up compression efficiency during filling of the history buffer. The match-length code book is limited to a maximum value T<256 to limit latency and simplify the process.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for executing a sequential data compression algorithm that is especially suitable for use where data compression is required in a device (as distinguished from host) controller. A history buffer compresses an array of i identical horizontal slice units. Each slice unit stores j symbols to define j separate blocks in which the symbols in each slice unit are separated by exactly i symbols. Symbols in a string of i incoming symbols are compared by i comparators in parallel with symbols previously stored in the slice units to identify matching sequences of symbols. A control unit controls execution of the sequential algorithm to condition the comparators to scan symbols in parallel but in each of the blocks sequentially and cause matching sequences and nonmatching sequences of symbols to be stored in the array.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for the compression and decompression of binary test images. The method distinguishes between large low-frequency areas and small high-frequency areas in the original frame. For the low-frequency areas, a scheme for lossy compression is used, whereas for the high-frequency areas, a scheme permitting lossless compression is applied. The compression/decompression process involves five stages; namely prefiltering to remove all black patches (e.g.

Abstract: This method relates to the compression of information contained in filled-in forms (O) by separate handling of the corresponding empty forms (CP) and of the information written into them (VP). Samples of the empty forms are pre-scanned, the data obtained digitized and stored in a computer memory to create a forms library. The original, filled-in form (O) to be compressed is then scanned, the data obtained digitized and the retrieved representation of the empty form (CP) is then subtracted, the difference being the digital representation of the filled-in information (VP), which may now be compressed by conventional methods or, preferably, by an adaptive compression scheme using at least two compression ratios depending on the relative content of black pixels in the data to be compressed.

Abstract: A method for substituting interpolated values for ambiguous symbols in an arithmetically encoded symbol string, symbols in the unencoded original string being drawn from a Markov source and a finite alphabet. Ambiguity of a symbol is defined as where its symbol occurrence statistic lies outside of a predetermined range. Interpolation involves selectively combining the occurrence statistics of symbols adjacent the ambiguous symbol and recursively and arithmetically encoding the combined statistics. The method otherwise encodes unambiguous symbols in a conventional arithmetic manner. The decoding duals are also described.

Abstract: An improved method of generating a compressed representation of a source data string, each symbol of which is taken from a finite set of m+1 symbols, a.sub.o to a.sub.m. The method is based on an arithmetic coding procedure wherein the source data string is recursively generated as successive subintervals within a predetermined interval. The width of each subinterval is theoretically equal to the width of the previous subinterval multiplied by the probability of the current symbol. The improvement derives from approximating the width of the previous subinterval so that the approximation can be achieved by a single SHIFT and ADD operation using a suitable shift register.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving 3-dimensional video images of a scene using conventional video transmission channels. The method requires the production of two images of the scene obtained from slightly different viewing angles, the images being sampled so as to generate for each image sets of component picture elements which are then sub-sampled according to a predetermined pattern, so as to form first and second sets of signals for each image. Both sets of signals corresponding to one of the images are transmitted to enable a conventional receiver to display a 2-dimensional image. A second set of signals for the other image is predicted both at the transmitter and at a modified receiver, enabling a correction signal corresponding to the difference between the predicted and actual signals to be transmitted to the modified receiver which regenerates the actual signals and displays them together with the corresponding first set of signals of the first image.

Abstract: Method and means for detecting any single errors introduced into an arithmetic data compression code string as a result of coding, transmission, or decoding through testing according to a modulo-n function, n being an odd number not equal to +1 or -1, an arithmetic compression coded data stream C'(s) genmerated by n-scaling an arithmetically recursive function that produces a non-scaled arithmetically data compressed code stream C(s) as a number in the semi-open coding range [0,1].