IBD Booster -- Speeding up IBD with pre-generated hints (PoC)

In exploring efficient data encoding techniques, a significant reduction in space can be achieved by implementing a simple yet effective method of encoding bit hints. This method involves representing the number of zeros before each one in a sequence, which offers a straightforward approach to compress data size. For instance, a sequence like 00010000011001 becomes encoded as 3,5,0,2, illustrating how this technique simplifies and compresses the original data.

Further examination into data compression reveals the potential benefits of employing delta or differential encoding in conjunction with CompactSize and VarInt methods. An analysis conducted in a provided notebook demonstrates that these approaches can significantly reduce the uncompressed data's size by approximately half. This finding is particularly relevant when considering the distribution of compressed hints, highlighting the efficiency of delta and differential encoding methods. Despite these advantages, the effectiveness of differentially encoding data for compression purposes warrants further consideration, especially since the xz compression algorithm yields comparable sizes across various data combinations.

The practical implications of these encoding strategies are underscored by a comparison of file sizes before and after applying differential compression techniques. For example, the original booster data file, when compressed using differential compact size and VarInt methods, exhibits a notable decrease in size from 364964716 bytes to 188209875 and 190098381 bytes, respectively. This considerable reduction in data size extends to their xz compressed equivalents, with the differential_compact_size.bin.xz and differential_varint.bin.xz files showing reduced sizes at 81697540 and 81321492 bytes, respectively. Additionally, it's worth noting that most median deltas fall below 253, making them encodable with a single byte CompactSize, which further emphasizes the efficiency of these encoding schemes in optimizing data storage and transmission.