An Introduction to Arithmetic Coding

Arithmetic coding is a data compression technique that encodes data (the data string) by creating a code string which represents a fractional value on the number line between 0 and 1. The coding algorithm is symbol-wise recursive; i.e., it operates upon and encodes (decodes) one data symbol per iteration or recursion. On each recursion, the algorithm successively partitions an interval of the number line between 0 and I, and retains one of the partitions as the new interval.