Prefix Codes: Equiprobable Words, Unequal Letter Costs

TL;DR

This paper presents a near-linear-time algorithm for a Huffman coding variant where all words have equal probability but letters have unequal costs, improving efficiency in such encoding scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a novel, efficient algorithm for prefix coding with equal word probabilities and non-uniform letter costs, extending Huffman coding techniques.

Findings

Algorithm operates in near-linear time

Handles non-uniform letter costs effectively

Applicable to equal-probability word encoding

Abstract

Describes a near-linear-time algorithm for a variant of Huffman coding, in which the letters may have non-uniform lengths (as in Morse code), but with the restriction that each word to be encoded has equal probability. [See also ``Huffman Coding with Unequal Letter Costs'' (2002).]