Method for compressing XML documents into valid XML documents

1. A network device comprising:

at least one processor;

a network interface configured to communicate with the at least one processor and a network; and

an XML document processing module, including a compression module configured to:

compress an XML document into a compressed binary stream,

convert the compressed binary stream into compressed ASCII text encoded from the compressed binary stream, and

format the compressed ASCII text so as to form a compressed valid XML document, including replacing any invalid XML characters with standard XML replacement text, and wherein compressing an XML document into a compressed binary stream includes compressing redundant text streams in the XML document.

2. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the XML document processing module is configured to compress the XML document into the compressed binary stream using a deflate compression algorithm.

3. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the binary to ASCII text encoding algorithm includes a base-64 encoding algorithm.

4. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the XML document processing module includes a decompression module to decompress compressed valid XML documents.

5. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the network device is an embedded device server operable to manage a remote device using XML documents.

6. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the network interface includes a serial port.

7. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the network interface includes a web interface.

8. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the network is a wireless network.

9. The network device of claim 8 wherein the network device is included in a cell phone.

10. The network device of claim 8 wherein the network is a wireless local area network (WLAN) and the network device is included in a WLAN computer card.

11. The network device of claim 1 , wherein the compression module is configured to

associate at least one XML tag with the compressed valid XML document, wherein the XML tag identifies the compressed valid XML document as a compressed XML document.

12. A system for communicating XML documents, the system comprising:

a communication network; and

at least first and second network devices to communicate over the network, wherein each network device includes:

at least one processor;

a network interface to communicate with the at least one processor and the network; and

an XML document processing module, wherein the XML document processing module includes:

an XML document processing module, including a compression module configured to:

compress a first XML document into a compressed binary stream by compressing redundant text streams in the XML document;

convert the compressed binary stream into compressed ASCII text encoded from the compressed binary stream, and

format the compressed ASCII text so as to form a compressed valid XML document for transfer over the network; and

a decompression module configured to decompress a compressed valid XML document received over the network.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first network device is an embedded device server, the first network device operable to receive a device configuration file as a compressed valid XML document and decompress the document.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the first network device is operable to transfer a status message as a compressed valid XML document to the second network device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the network is a serial communication network.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the network is a wireless communication network.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the compression module is configured to:

associate at least one XML tag with the compressed valid XML document, wherein the XML tag identifies the compressed valid XML document as a compressed XML document.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the decompression module is configured to:

receive the compressed valid XML document containing compressed text;

reconvert the compressed text into a compressed binary stream; and

decompress the binary stream to obtain the first XML document.