Photonic Compression
A research prototype exploring Wavelength Division Multiplexing for data compression. Encoding bytes as photonic wavelengths to achieve spectral-domain compression — a potential upgrade for video streaming infrastructure.
How PWDC Works
Inspired by fiber optic WDM, where multiple data channels transmit simultaneously on different wavelengths of light.
Byte → Wavelength
Map each byte value (0-255) to a wavelength in the visible spectrum (380-780nm). Natural data clusters around certain values.
Spectral Clustering
Group identical wavelengths into channels with amplitude (count). Video data creates sparse spectra — few channels, high amplitude.
WDM Multiplexing
Run-length encode the channel sequence. Correlated data produces long runs of the same channel, compressing efficiently.
Delta Spectral
For video frames, encode only spectral differences between frames. 90%+ shared channels = massive compression.
Why Photonic Compression?
A novel approach with real advantages for streaming infrastructure.
Native to Fiber Optics
Data is already transmitted as light in fiber networks. PWDC encodes in the same wavelength domain, eliminating domain conversion overhead.
Lossless Reconstruction
Unlike lossy codecs (H.264, AV1), PWDC preserves every byte. Combined with lossy video codecs, it adds a lossless transport layer.
Programmable via LLL
LUXBIN Light Language scripts can implement custom compression strategies, making the codec programmable and extensible.
Explore the Research
Try the interactive demo, run benchmarks, or write LLL scripts to experiment with photonic compression concepts.
Get Started