How to convert a recursive function to a loop, using X

Hello XSLT experts!

My input file consists of a sequence (sourceSeq) of <Byte> elements
representing a sequence of null-terminated strings. I want to create a
function that returns a sequence of <String> elements. For example, with this
sourceSeq:

<Byte>48</Byte>
<Byte>69</Byte>
<Byte>00</Byte>
<Byte>4A</Byte>
<Byte>69</Byte>
<Byte>6C</Byte>
<Byte>6C</Byte>
<Byte>00</Byte>

the function should return:

<String>Hi</String>
<String>Jill</String>

The strings are of variable length.

I do not know how many null-terminated strings are in sourceSeq. However, I do
know the total number (total-size) of <Byte> elements within sourceSeq
containing the null-terminated strings.

Below is a recursive way to implement the function. Unfortunately, total-size
can be quite large, which means the function recurses many times, resulting in
a "Too many nested function calls" error. Is there an iterative way to
implement the function?  /Roger

<xsl:function name="f:make-string-table-entries" as="element(String)*">
    <xsl:param name="total-size" as="xs:integer" />
    <xsl:param name="current-size" as="xs:integer" />
    <xsl:param name="current-position" as="xs:integer" />
    <xsl:param name="sourceSeq" as="element(Byte)*" />

    <xsl:choose>
        <xsl:when test="$current-size ge $total-size" />
        <xsl:otherwise>
            <xsl:variable name="string"
select="f:make-element-from-null-terminated-string('String',
$current-position, $sourceSeq)" as="element(String)"/>
            <xsl:sequence select="$string" />
            <xsl:variable name="length" select="string-length($string/text())
+ 1"/>  <!-- add 1 for the null byte -->
            <xsl:sequence select="f:make-string-table-entries($total-size,
xs:integer($current-size+$length), xs:integer($current-position+$length),
$sourceSeq)" />
        </xsl:otherwise>
    </xsl:choose>

</xsl:function>