Coded pulse data transmission using a look-up table

1. A method for transmission of data, the method comprising:

accessing a plurality of data elements stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

determining the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements;

selecting a lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables based upon the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements, the plurality of lookup tables stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

determining, from the selected lookup table, a time duration value for each data element of the plurality of data elements;

forming a command that identifies the determined type of data, and encoded pulses with time durations that correspond to the time duration values; and

transmitting the command and the encoded pulses over a transmission medium.

2. The method of claim 1 , further including

accessing another plurality of data elements stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

determining another type of data represented by the other plurality of data elements;

selecting another lookup table from the plurality of lookup tables based upon the other type of data represented by the other plurality of data elements;

determining, from the other selected lookup table, another time duration value for each data element of the other plurality of data elements;

forming other encoded pulses with time durations that correspond to the other time duration values; and

transmitting the other encoded pulses over the transmission medium.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements comprises video input data, and at least one data element of the plurality of data elements corresponds to at least one of a pixel location and a color in a video image.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the encoded pulses over a transmission medium includes transmitting optical pulses over a fiber optic line using a laser.

5. The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of receiving feedback from a receiver of the transmitted encoded pulses, the feedback indicating information about received pulse lengths, and adjusting time durations during further formation of encoded pulses based upon the received feedback.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein forming encoded pulses with time durations that correspond to the time duration values includes the use of an atomic clock as a timing reference.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time duration of the encoded pulse is less than one thousandth of a second.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encoded pulses form part of test data and wherein the test data is configured for decoding at a decoder, and further comprising compensating for variations in the transmission medium based on data received from the decoder corresponding to the test data.

9. The method of claim 1 , further including sending a command prior to transmitting the encoded pulses, wherein the command identifies the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements.

10. The method of claim 1 , further including storing the time durations of the lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables according to an expected occurrence rate of each of the data elements of the plurality of data elements.

11. The method of claim 1 , further including after transmitting the encoded pulses over the transmission medium, decoding the pulses by:

receiving a plurality of the encoded pulses from the transmission medium;

measuring time durations for the received encoded pulses of the plurality of encoded pulses;

determining the type of data represented by the plurality of received encoded pulses based on the command;

selecting a lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables based upon the type of data represented by the plurality of received encoded pulses as indicated via the command, the plurality of lookup tables stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

decoding, from the selected lookup table, a data element value for each time duration value of the plurality of encoded pulses; and

storing the data element values in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

12. A method for decoding a pulse received from a transmission medium, the method comprising:

receiving a command and a plurality of encoded pulses from the transmission medium;

measuring time durations for the encoded pulses of the plurality of encoded pulses;

determining the type of data represented by the plurality of encoded pulses, based on information in the command;

selecting a lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables based upon the type of data represented by the plurality of encoded pulses, the plurality of lookup tables stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

decoding, from the selected lookup table, a data element value for each time duration value of the plurality of encoded pulses; and

storing the data element values in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the measuring includes comparing the time duration of the pulse to a timing reference.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the transmission medium is a fiber optic line; and the receiving further includes sensing the pulse using an optical sensor.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

selecting, in response to receiving a second command, another lookup table to use in decoding another plurality of encoded pulses from the transmission medium, based on data in the second command.

16. A system for transmission of encoded data over a transmission medium, the system comprising:

at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium; and

an encoder that includes least one processor, that is coupled to the at least one memory and that is configured to:

access a plurality of data elements stored in the non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

determine the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements;

select a lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables based upon the type of data represented by the plurality of data elements, the plurality of lookup tables stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium;

determine, from the selected lookup table, a time duration value for each data element of the plurality of data elements;

form a command that identifies the determined type of data, and encoded pulses with time durations that correspond to the time duration values; and

transmit the command and the encoded pulses over the transmission medium.

17. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a laser to form the encoded pulses for transmission over a fiber optic line.

18. The system of claim 16 , further comprising a decoder that includes a decoder non-transitory computer readable storage medium and a decoder processor and that is configured to:

receive the encoded pulses from the transmission medium;

measure time durations for the received encoded pulses;

determine the type of data represented by the received encoded pulses;

select the lookup table from a plurality of lookup tables based upon the type of data represented by the received encoded pulses;

decode, from the selected lookup table, a data element value for each time duration value of the received encoded pulses; and

store the data element values in the decoder non-transitory computer readable storage medium.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of data elements represent video data that includes pixel locations in a video image.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send a command prior to transmitting the encoded pulses, the command identifying the type of data as video data.