| 摘要 |
A data processing system and method are provided for generating a structured listing of symbols from which encoded data values for those symbols can be determined. The data processing system comprises a list generator for generating from an input stream of symbols a first list having a plurality of entries, each entry identifying a symbol in the input stream and the frequency with which that symbol appears. A sorter is then arranged to order the entries in the first list by frequency, and a selector is arranged to select the two symbols having the lowest frequency. A new symbol generator, responsive to the selector, is used to generate a new symbol to represent the two selected symbols, and to allocate the new symbol a frequency based on the two selected symbols. The list generator is also arranged to generate a second list for storage of new symbols generated by the new symbol generator, the list generator being arranged to store the new symbol as an entry in the second list along with an indication of the frequency allocated to the new symbol. Further, the list generator makes unavailable for subsequent steps in the generation of the structured listing the entries for the two symbols selected by the selector. The selector and new symbol generator are arranged to repetitively represent the two symbols having the lowest frequency with a new symbol until only one available entry remains, each new symbol being stored in the second list, and in each iteration the selector being arranged to select the two symbols from all available entries in the first and the second list. Using this technique, the time taken to generate the structured listing increases proportional to N, where N is the number of symbols in the input stream.
|
