# ALEC — Adaptive Lazy Evolving Compression
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</p>
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<p align="center">
<strong>A smart compression codec for bandwidth-constrained environments</strong>
</p>
<p align="center">
<a href="#features">Features</a> •
<a href="#use-cases">Use Cases</a> •
<a href="#quick-start">Quick Start</a> •
<a href="#embedded--nostd">Embedded / no_std</a> •
<a href="#documentation">Documentation</a> •
<a href="#contributing">Contributing</a>
</p>
---
## Why ALEC?
In many environments, **every bit counts**:
- 🛰️ Satellite communications at a few kbps
- 🌿 Battery-powered IoT sensors lasting years
- 🌍 Rural areas with limited satellite connectivity
- 🌊 Underwater acoustic links
- 🏭 Industrial networks with restricted bandwidth
ALEC addresses these challenges with an innovative approach: **transmit only what has value**.
---
## Features
### 🦥 Lazy Compression
ALEC doesn't transmit all data — it first sends **the decision**, then details only if needed.
```
Without ALEC: [Complete data] ──────────────────────▶ 1000 bytes
With ALEC: [Alert: anomaly detected] ────────────▶ 12 bytes
[Details on demand] ──────────────────▶ 500 bytes (if requested)
```
### 🔄 Evolving Context
Encoder and decoder build a **shared dictionary** that improves over time.
```
Week 1: "temperature=22.3°C" ──────────────────────▶ 20 bytes
Week 4: [code_7][+0.3] ───────────────────────────▶ 3 bytes
```
### ⚖️ Smart Asymmetry
Computational effort is placed **where resources exist**.
| Standard | Light | Heavy | IoT sensors, drones |
| Reversed | Heavy | Light | Broadcast distribution |
### 📊 Priority Classification
Each data point receives a priority that determines its handling:
| P1 CRITICAL | Immediate send + acknowledgment | Fire alert |
| P2 IMPORTANT | Immediate send | Anomaly detected |
| P3 NORMAL | Standard send | Periodic measurement |
| P4 DEFERRED | On demand only | Detailed history |
| P5 DISPOSABLE | Never sent | Debug logs |
---
## Use Cases
### 🚜 Connected Agriculture
Field sensors monitor moisture, temperature, and nutrients. With ALEC, they run 10 years on battery by transmitting only alerts and anomalies.
### 🏥 Rural Telemedicine
A portable ultrasound in a remote area first sends "suspected cardiac anomaly" in 50 bytes. The remote doctor decides if they need the full image.
### 🚛 Vehicle Fleets
500 trucks report their position. After a few weeks, the system knows the usual routes and only transmits deviations.
### 🛰️ Space Observation
A satellite photographs Earth. It only sends significant changes compared to previous images.
➡️ [See all detailed use cases](docs/applications.md)
---
## Ecosystem
ALEC consists of multiple crates:
| `alec` | Core compression codec | Encoder, Decoder, Context |
| `alec-ffi` | C/C++ bindings | FFI interface, embedded targets |
| `alec-gateway` | Multi-sensor orchestration | Channel management, Frame aggregation |
| `alec-gateway[metrics]` | Entropy observability | TC, H_joint, Resilience R |
| `alec-complexity` | Anomaly detection | Baseline, Z-scores, Events |
### Quick Install
```toml
# Core codec only
[dependencies]
alec = "1.2"
# C FFI (std)
[dependencies]
alec-ffi = "1.2"
# C FFI for embedded (bare-metal, no RTOS)
[dependencies]
alec-ffi = { version = "1.2", default-features = false, features = ["bare-metal"] }
# C FFI for Zephyr RTOS
[dependencies]
alec-ffi = { version = "1.2", default-features = false, features = ["zephyr"] }
```
---
## Quick Start
### Prerequisites
- Rust 1.70+ (encoder and decoder)
- Or: C compiler (embedded encoder only via `alec-ffi`)
### Installation
```bash
git clone https://github.com/zeekmartin/alec-codec.git
cd alec-codec
cargo build --release
cargo test
```
### First Example
```rust
use alec::{Encoder, Decoder, Context, RawData};
fn main() {
let mut ctx_emitter = Context::new();
let mut ctx_receiver = Context::new();
let encoder = Encoder::new();
let decoder = Decoder::new();
for i in 0..100 {
let data = RawData::new(20.0 + (i as f64 * 0.1), i);
// Encode
let message = encoder.encode(&data, &ctx_emitter);
ctx_emitter.observe(&data);
// Decode
let decoded = decoder.decode(&message, &ctx_receiver).unwrap();
ctx_receiver.observe(&decoded);
println!("Original: {:.1}, Size: {} bytes", data.value, message.len());
}
}
```
➡️ [Complete getting started guide](docs/getting-started.md)
---
## Embedded / no_std
ALEC supports embedded targets from version 1.2.0. The `alec-ffi` crate provides C bindings with three feature tiers:
### Feature comparison
| `std` (default) | System | System | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| `no_std` | User-provided | User-provided | Any embedded |
| `bare-metal` | `embedded-alloc` (8KB heap) | `loop {}` | Bare-metal (no RTOS) |
| `zephyr` | Zephyr `k_malloc`/`k_free` | `loop {}` | Zephyr RTOS |
### Bare-metal (no RTOS)
```toml
alec-ffi = { version = "1.2", default-features = false, features = ["bare-metal"] }
```
```bash
rustup target add thumbv8m.main-none-eabihf
cargo build --release --target thumbv8m.main-none-eabihf --no-default-features --features bare-metal
```
### Zephyr RTOS
```toml
alec-ffi = { version = "1.2", default-features = false, features = ["zephyr"] }
```
```bash
rustup target add thumbv8m.main-none-eabi
cargo build --release --target thumbv8m.main-none-eabi --no-default-features --features zephyr
```
> **Note on target selection for Zephyr:** Use `thumbv8m.main-none-eabi` (not `eabihf`). Zephyr's nRF91 toolchain compiles in `nofp` mode — using the `hf` variant causes an ABI mismatch at link time.
### CMakeLists.txt integration (Zephyr)
```cmake
add_library(alec_ffi STATIC IMPORTED GLOBAL)
set_target_properties(alec_ffi PROPERTIES
IMPORTED_LOCATION ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/libalec_ffi.a
)
target_include_directories(alec_ffi INTERFACE
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include
)
# Do NOT use --whole-archive — causes premature static initialisation before Zephyr heap is ready
```
Add a `critical_section.c` to your Zephyr app:
```c
#include <zephyr/kernel.h>
static unsigned int cs_irq_key;
void _critical_section_1_0_acquire(void) { cs_irq_key = irq_lock(); }
void _critical_section_1_0_release(void) { irq_unlock(cs_irq_key); }
```
### Validated embedded platforms
| Nordic nRF9151 SMA-DK | Cortex-M33 | `zephyr` | ✅ Validated |
| Generic Cortex-M33 | thumbv8m | `bare-metal` | ✅ Builds |
➡️ [See the full NB-IoT demo](https://github.com/zeekmartin/alec-nrf9151-demo)
---
## Documentation
### Core Documentation
| [Architecture](docs/ARCHITECTURE.md) | System design and ADRs |
| [Getting Started](docs/getting-started.md) | Getting started guide |
| [Protocol Reference](docs/protocol-reference.md) | Protocol specification |
| [Security](docs/security.md) | Security considerations |
| [FAQ](docs/FAQ.md) | Frequently asked questions |
### Module Documentation
| [Gateway Guide](docs/GATEWAY.md) | Multi-sensor orchestration |
| [Metrics Guide](docs/METRICS.md) | Entropy and resilience computation |
| [Complexity Guide](docs/COMPLEXITY.md) | Baseline learning and anomaly detection |
| [Configuration](docs/CONFIGURATION.md) | Complete configuration reference |
| [Integration](docs/INTEGRATION.md) | Integration patterns |
---
## Performance
Results on reference dataset (temperature sensor, 24h, 1 measurement/min):
| Compression ratio | 0.65 | 0.08 | < 0.10 ✅ |
| P1 Latency | 45ms | 42ms | < 100ms ✅ |
| Encoder RAM | 12KB | 28KB | < 64KB ✅ |
---
## Roadmap
- [x] **v1.0** — Production ready ✅
- [x] **v1.2.0** — no_std support ✅
- [x] **v1.2.1** — bare-metal embedded (Cortex-M) ✅
- [x] **v1.2.3** — Zephyr RTOS support ✅
- [ ] **v1.3** — RIOT OS support
- [ ] **v1.4** — FreeRTOS support
➡️ [See the complete roadmap](todo.md)
---
## Contributing
Contributions are welcome! See:
- [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) — Contribution guide
- [prompts/](prompts/) — Templates for features, bugfixes, etc.
- [examples/](examples/) — Example workflows
---
## License
ALEC is **dual-licensed**:
### Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Free for open source projects, research, and personal use.
```toml
[dependencies]
alec = "1.2"
```
### Commercial License
For proprietary use without open-source obligations.
Starting at $500/year for startups.
👉 **[Get a Commercial License](https://alec-codec.com/pricing)**
See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.
---
## Compact fixed-channel mode (v1.3.5+)
For constrained LoRaWAN deployments with hard payload
ceilings (e.g. 11 bytes), ALEC now supports a compact
fixed-channel wire format:
- 4-byte header (sequence u16 + context_version u16)
- 2-byte bitmap (2 bits per channel, up to 64 channels)
- No name_ids, no device timestamp
- Marker byte: 0xA1 (data) / 0xA2 (keyframe)
- Steady-state avg: ~8B for 5 channels
- Fits in 11-byte LoRaWAN payload ceiling
### Packet loss recovery
ALEC is a stateful differential codec. To handle
lossy networks:
- Periodic keyframe every N transmissions (default 50)
forces Raw32 for all channels — automatic recovery
- Sequence gap detection triggers context reset
- LoRaWAN downlink smart resync: send 0xFF command
to request immediate keyframe, reducing worst-case
drift from N×interval to 1×interval
### Context persistence
For server-side decoder persistence across restarts:
- `alec_decoder_export_state()` → ALCS binary format
(~1.5 KB for 5 channels)
- `alec_decoder_import_state()` → restore decoder
- Bit-exact round-trip verified
- CRC32 checksum, format-versioned (ALCS v1)
### Multi-architecture support
Verified bare-metal builds:
| `thumbv7m-none-eabi` | Cortex-M3 | ~55 KB |
| `thumbv7em-none-eabi` | Cortex-M4 | ~55 KB |
| `thumbv7em-none-eabihf` | Cortex-M4F | ~56 KB |
| `thumbv6m-none-eabi` | Cortex-M0+ | ~53 KB |
Note: final linked size with `--gc-sections` will be
significantly smaller.
---
## Acknowledgments
ALEC draws inspiration from:
- NASA error-correcting codes (turbo codes, LDPC)
- Dictionary compression (LZ77, LZ78)
- Efficient IoT protocols (CoAP, MQTT-SN)
---
<p align="center">
<sub>Made with ❤️ for a world where every bit counts</sub>
</p>