On Match Lengths, Zero Entropy, and Large Deviations—With Application to Sliding Window Lempel–Ziv Algorithm

Abstract

The Sliding Window Lempel-Ziv (SWLZ) algorithm that makes use of recurrence times and match lengths has been studied from various perspectives in information theory literature. In this paper, we undertake a finer study of these quantities under two different scenarios, i) \emph{zero entropy} sources that are characterized by strong long-term memory, and ii) the processes with weak memory as described through various mixing conditions. For zero entropy sources, a general statement on match length is obtained. It is used in the proof of almost sure optimality of Fixed Shift Variant of Lempel-Ziv (FSLZ) and SWLZ algorithms given in literature. Through an example of stationary and ergodic processes generated by an irrational rotation we establish that for a window of size $n_w$, a compression ratio given by $O(\frac{\log n_w}{{n_w}^a})$ where $a$ depends on $n_w$ and approaches 1 as $n_w \rightarrow \infty$, is obtained under the application of FSLZ and SWLZ algorithms. Also, we give a general expression for the compression ratio for a class of stationary and ergodic processes with zero entropy. Next, we extend the study of Ornstein and Weiss on the asymptotic behavior of the \emph{normalized} version of recurrence times and establish the \emph{large deviation property} (LDP) for a class of mixing processes. Also, an estimator of entropy based on recurrence times is proposed for which large deviation principle is proved for sources satisfying similar mixing conditions.