Study of General Digital Codes with Emphasis on Signal Compression.

摘要

Several topics in the areas of compression coding and computer theory are covered. A method for estimating the entropy of a language from a small sample is described. This method for reducing bias can be adopted to entirely different estimation problems. A theoretical explanation of Zipf's law is given which is more general than those previously published. A simple way to calculate the probability of buffer overflow and underflow is then given. A connection between the synthesis of Maitra cascades and the behavior of a digital computer following a program is established. This holds promise of a formal theory of computation. (Author)