Statistical Lossless Compression of Space Imagery and General Data in a Reconfigurable Architecture

This paper investigates an universal algorithm and hardware architecture for context-based statistical lossless compression of multiple types of data using FPGA (field programmable gate array) devices which support partial and dynamic reconfiguration. The proposed system enables optimal modeling strategies for each source type whilst entropy coding of the modeling output is performed using a statically configured arithmetic coding engine. Spacecraft communications typically involve large amounts of information captured from different sensors that must be transmitted without any loss. The statistical redundancies present in this data can be removed efficiently using the proposed reconfigurable compression technology.