Generalized Kraft Inequality and Arithmetic Coding

Algorithms for encoding and decoding finite strings over a finite alphabet are described. The coding operations are arithmetic involving rational numbers l i as parameters such that ∑ i 2 −l i≤2 −ε . This coding technique requires no blocking, and the per-symbol length of the encoded string approaches the associated entropy within ε. The coding speed is comparable to that of conventional coding methods.