sub rle {
    my $rVec = shift;
    my $bits = length( $$rVec ) *8;
    my $i = vec( $$rVec, 0, 1 );

    my @counts;
    my $p = 1;
    while( $p < $bits ) {
        push @counts, 1;
        ++$counts[ -1 ] while $p < $bits and vec( $$rVec, $p++, 1 ) == $i;
        $counts[ -1 ] *= -1 if $i;
        $i ^= 1;
    }
    return \@counts;
}
;;

$v = pack 'N', 0x01020304;;

print unpack 'b*', $v;;
10000000010000001100000000100000

print @{ rle( \$v ) };;
-1 8 -1 6 -2 8 -1 5