HP’s Compression Algorithm
Beginning November 1, 1993, HP has been shipping a variation of the Lempel-
Ziv (LZ) lossless compression algorithm on all HP routers. The HP scheme
(called HP Packet-by-Packet Compression, or HP PPC) compresses each
packet independently using the packet-by-packet dictionary method in
which the dictionary is reset with each packet. Also, HP PPC ensures that
the compressed packet is never larger than the original, otherwise the
original (uncompressed) packet will be sent. Sending the uncompressed
packet in this case saves CPU bandwidth by eliminating the need to uncom-
press the packet at the other end of the link. Additionally, sending the
uncompressed packet saves WAN link bandwidth by assuring that a packet
is never expanded beyond its original size. Not all compression algorithms
guarantee smaller, or even equal size data!
Run Length Encoding
In addition to packet-by-packet compression, the HP PPC algorithm employs
an additional encoding scheme, called run length encoding, to further
compress data. Run length encoding is a method of replacing repeated
occurrences of a certain character with a single occurrence, followed by the
number of times it occurs (i.e., the run length).
Currently, HP PPC is supported only on HP point-to-point links. Later
releases of router software will support other, more standard link technolo-
gies, such as Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), including PPP over ISDN (V.25
bis) and PPP over frame relay. HP PPC uses very little memory, and is
optimized for running on WAN links that use non-reliable, datagram-oriented
protocols, such as HP point-to-point links running the LLC1 datagram
service. You can also use the LLC2 (reliable) service, which provides error
detection as well as error recovery by retransmission. However, LLC2 uses
more link overhead in acknowledgments and retransmissions, and is not
required for HP PPC to run efficiently.
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Data Compression for WAN Links
HP’s Compression Algorithm
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Summary of Contents for 600 Series
Page 1: ...Hewlett Packard Series 200 400 and 600 Routers HP Routing Services and Applications ...
Page 4: ......
Page 5: ...1 Product Notes ...
Page 6: ...Features of HP Routers Architecture and Technology Branch Office Routing Product Notes 1 2 ...
Page 38: ...Architecture and Technology Software Control Path Architecture 1 34 ...
Page 52: ...Branch Office Routing Future Directions 1 48 ...
Page 53: ...2 Routing Services Notes ...
Page 106: ...Bridging Service Traffic Prioritization 2 54 ...
Page 158: ...Novell IPX Routing Service NetBIOS Protocol Support 2 106 ...
Page 194: ...Data Compression for WAN Links Conclusion 2 142 ...
Page 195: ...3 Application Notes and Case Studies ...
Page 224: ...Improving Network Availability Application Recovery 3 30 ...
Page 234: ...ISDN Wide Area Network Design Dry Creek Joint Elem School District Performance 3 40 ...
Page 316: ......