Blind deconvolution (BD) is the problem of restoring sharp images from blurry images when convolution kernels are unknown. While it has a wide range of applications and has been extensively studied, traditional shift-invariant (SI) BD focuses on uniform blur caused by kernels that do not spatially vary. However, real blur caused by factors such as motion and defocus is often nonuniform and thus beyond the ability of SI BD. Although specialized methods exist for nonuniform blur, they can only handle specific blur types. Consequently, the applicability of BD for general blur remains limited. This paper proposes a shift-variant (SV) BD method that models nonuniform blur using a field of kernels that assigns a local kernel to each pixel, thereby allowing pixelwise variation. This concept is realized as a Bayesian model that involves SV convolution with the field of kernels and smoothing of the field for regularization. A variational-Bayesian inference algorithm is derived to jointly estimate a sharp latent image and a field of kernels from a blurry observed image. Owing to the flexibility of the field-of-kernels model, the proposed method can deal with a wider range of blur than previous approaches. Experiments using images with nonuniform blur demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SV BD method in comparison with previous SI and SV approaches.

In this article, we present a new image-stabilization technology for still images based on blind deconvolution and introduce it to a consumer digital still camera. This technology consists of three features: (1)double-exposure-based PSF detection, (2)efficient image deblurring filter, and (3)edge-based ringing reduction. Without deteriorating the deblurring performance, the new technology allows us to reduce processing time and ringing artifacts, both of which are common problems in image deconvolution.

We propose a new two-stage blind separation and deconvolution strategy for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)-FIR systems driven by colored sound sources, in which single-input multiple-output (SIMO)-model-based ICA (SIMO-ICA) and blind multichannel inverse filtering are combined. SIMO-ICA can separate the mixed signals, not into monaural source signals but into SIMO-model-based signals from independent sources as they are at the microphones. After the separation by the SIMO-ICA, a blind deconvolution technique for the SIMO model can be applied even when each source signal is temporally correlated and the mixing system has a nonminimum phase property. The simulation results reveal that the proposed algorithm can successfully achieve separation and deconvolution of a convolutive mixture of speech, and outperforms a number of conventional ICA-based BSD methods.

We present a new speech enhancement algorithm in a car environment with two microphones. The car audio signals and other background noises are the target noises to be suppressed. Our algorithm is composed of two main parts, i.e., the spatial and the temporal processes. The multi-channel blind deconvolution (MBD) is applied to the spatial process while the Kalman filter with a second-order high pass filter, for the temporal one. For the fast convergence, the MBD is newly expressed in frequency-domain with a normalization matrix. The final performance evaluated with the severely car noise corrupted speech shows that our algorithm produces noticeably enhanced speech.

This paper considers a link of two problems; multichannel blind deconvolution and multichannel blind identification of linear time-invariant dynamic systems. To solve these problems, cumulant maximization has been proposed for blind deconvolution, while cumulant matching has been utilized for blind identification. They have been independently developed. In this paper, a cumulant maximization criterion for multichannel blind deconvolution is shown to be equivalent to a least-squares cumulant matching criterion after multichannel prewhitening of channel outputs. This equivalence provides us with a new link between a cumulant maximization criterion for blind deconvolution and a cumulant matching criterion for blind identification.

The present paper deals with the blind deconvolution of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Finite Impulse Response (MIMO-FIR) system. To deal with the blind deconvolution problem using the second-order statistics (SOS) of the outputs, Hua and Tugnait considered it under the conditions that a) the FIR system is irreducible and b) the input signals are spatially uncorrelated and have distinct power spectra. In the present paper, the problem is considered under a weaker condition than the condition a). Namely, we assume that c) the FIR system is equalizable by means of the SOS of the outputs. Under b) and c), we show that the system can be blindly identified up to a permutation, a scaling, and a delay using the SOS of the outputs. Moreover, based on this identifiability, we show a novel necessary and sufficiently condition for solving the blind deconvolution problem, and then, based on the condition, we propose a new algorithm for finding an equalizer using the SOS of the outputs, while Hua and Tugnait have not proposed any algorithm for solving the blind deconvolution under the conditions a) and b).

Several methods have been developed for solving blind deconvolution problem. Recursive inverse filtering method is proposed recently and shown to have good convergence properties. This method requires accurate estimate of the region of support. In this paper, we propose to modify the original method by incorporating split, merge and grouping algorithm to find the region of support automatically.

A genetic algorithm is presented for the blind-deconvolution problem of image restoration without any a priori information about object image or blurring function. The restoration problem is modeled as an optimization problem, whose cost function is to be minimized based on mechanics of natural selection and natural genetics. The applicability of GA for blind-deconvolution problem was demonstrated.

A new method is proposed for recovering an unknown source signal ,which is observed through two unknown channels characterized by non-minimum phase FIR filters. Conventional methods cannot estimate the non-minimum phase parts and recover the source signal. Our method is based on computing the eigenvector corresponding to the smallest eigenvalue of the input correlation matrix and using the criterion with the multi-channnel inverse filtering theory. The impulse responses are estimated by computing the eigenvector for all modeling orders. The optimum order is searched for using the criterion and the most appropriate impulse responses are estimated. Multi-channel inverse filtering with the estimated impulse responses is used to recover the unknown source signal. Computer simulation shows that our method can estimate nonminimum phase impulse responses from two reverberant signals and recover the source signal.