Base64 Decoding with Ignorable Characters using SIMD instructions

2025 · doi:10.22541/au.175692137.72576748/v1
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Abstract

The base64 format is ubiquitous: it is used in emails and Web documents to encode binary data as text. By convention, base64 text often includes ignorable characters such as spaces. We introduce the first base64-decoding algorithms with support for ignorable characters designed for single-instruction-multiple-data (SIMD) instructions. Our novel functions multiply the base64 decoding speed compared to traditional methods. Our algorithms have been implemented for different hardware architectures (ARM and x64). Our approach has been widely adopted in JavaScript runtimes and Web browsers.
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Abstract

The base64 format is ubiquitous: it is used in emails and Web documents to encode binary data as text. By convention, base64 text often includes ignorable characters such as spaces. We introduce the first base64-decoding algorithms with support for ignorable characters designed for single-instruction-multiple-data (SIMD) instructions. Our novel functions multiply the base64 decoding speed compared to traditional methods. Our algorithms have been implemented for different hardware architectures (ARM and x64). Our approach has been widely adopted in JavaScript runtimes and Web browsers. Supplementary Material File (base64whatwg-2.pdf) - Download - 307.18 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License.

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Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 126views 80downloads Citations Download citation Daniel Lemire. Base64 Decoding with Ignorable Characters using SIMD instructions. Authorea. 03 September 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175692137.72576748/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.175692137.72576748/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

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