Shared decompression buffer

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved compression/decompression system.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a compression/decompression system with reduced decompression working memory requirements.
The foregoing and other advantages are provided by a decompression method in a computer system, said computer system comprising a processor, external storage and working memory, said decompression method comprising reading a compressed data file from said external storage, allocating a single portion of said working memory for said compressed data file, loading said compressed data file into a back end of said allocated single portion of said working memory, and decompressing said compressed data file in said working memory by progressively decompressing the compressed data file into a decompressed data file and loading said decompressed data file into a front end of said working memory.
The foregoing and other advantages are also provided by a decompression system for decompressing a compressed data file said decompression system comprising, a processor means, an external storage means, a working memory means, a means for reading the compressed data file from the external storage means, an allocation means for allocating a single portion of the working memory means, a means for loading the compressed data file into a back end portion of the allocated single portion of the working memory means, and a decompression means for decompressing the compressed data file in the working memory means by progressively decompressing the compressed data file into a decompressed data file and loading the decompressed data file into a front end portion of the working memory means.