Data Compression and Error-protection coding are two of the now widely heard but not well understood terms associated with the Information Super Highway. But this was not always so. Their familiarity is a consequence of developments which were initiated nearly 50 years ago with the introduction of modern information theory by Claude Shannon.
Both concepts and techniques which can dramatically improve the representation, storage and communication of digital data - the underlying component of modern information systems. Although often invisible to individual users, the commercial applications of compression and coding, which affect Our daily lives now, have become extremely broad. Few of these applications can claim they were not directly or indirectly influenced by prior investments in this technology by NASA and the military.
This paper describes important specific ongoing NASA direct technology transfers of data compression and error-protection coding techniques/technology. First jointly used to improve the return of Voyager images from Uranus and Neptune by a factor of 4, these techniques and their NASA sponsored custom high-speed microcircuits are now independently enjoying widespread use. A simplified laymen\u27s description of these techniques and their performance characteristics is followed by a status on their technology transfer
