This letter introduces a non-local means (NLM) denoising algorithm that uses a weight function based on a switching norm. The noise level and local activity are incorporated into the NLM denoising algorithm which enhances performance. This is done by selecting a norm among l1, l2, and l4 norms to determine a weighting function. The experimental results show the capability of the proposed algorithm. In addition, the proposed algorithm is verified as effective for enhancing the performance of other NLM algorithms.

A method for the specification of weighting functions for a spaceborne/airborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor for Earth observation and environment monitoring is introduced. This method is based on designing an optimum mismatched filter which minimizes the total power in sidelobes located out of a specified range region around the peak value point of the system point-target response, i.e. impulse response function under the constraint imposed on the peak value. It is shown that this method allows achieving appreciable improvement in accuracy performance without degradation in the range resolution.

The non-individualized head related transfer function (HRTF) is known to have a few problems, which are referred to as the 'hole in the middle' phenomenon and 'front-back reversals.' To overcome these problems, an HRTF refinement technique was introduced, but unfortunately, this refinement technique causes sudden degradation in sound quality and difficulty in cross-talk cancellation because of notch frequency exaggeration. In this paper, an HRTF refinement using directional weighting function is proposed. This newly proposed technique weights ordinary HRTF according to its direction to amplify frontal sound intensity. Since the proposed technique does not exaggerate the notch frequency, spectral differences in the 'cone-of-confusion' region become more pronounced within overall audible frequencies, resulting in mitigating the sound degradation. In addition, the cross-talk cancellation can be done more easily. We verified the superiority of the proposed technique over the existing one by means of the sound localization and sound quality tests in headphone and loudspeakers.

Microwave radiometry has been investigated for non-invasive measurement of temperature in human body. Recent trends are to explore the capability of retrieving a temperature profile or map from a set of brightness temperatures measured by a multifrequency radiometer operating in a 1-6GHz range. The retrieval of temperature from the multifrequency measurement data is formulated as an inverse problem in which the number of independent measurement or data is limited (7) and the data suffer from considerably large random fluctuations. The standard deviation of the data fluctuation is given by the brightness temperature resolution of the instrument (0.04-0.1K). Solutions are prone to instabilities and large errors unless proper solution methods are used. Solution methods developed during the last few years are reviewed: singular system analysis, bio-heat transfer solution matched with radiometric data, and model-fitting combined with Monte Carlo technique. Typical results obtained by these methods are presented to indicate a crosssection of the present-state-of-the-development in the field. This review concludes with discussions on the radiometric weighting function which connects physical temperatures in object to the brightness temperature. Three-dimensional weighting functions derived by the modal analysis and the FDTD method for a rectangular waveguide antenna coupled to a four layered lossy medium are discussed. Development of temperature retrieval procedures incorporating the 3-D weighting functions is an important and challenging task for future work in this field.

Multifrequency microwave radiometry for non-invasive measurement of temperature in biological objects has been investigated in our laboratory. An open-ended rectangular waveguide filled with a dielectric has been used as a contact-type antenna of a radiometer operating over a 1-4GHz range. In the radiometric measurement, the radiometer measures the thermal radiation emitted by the object via the antenna as the brightness temperature. The brightness temperature is related to the physical temperatures in the object through the radiometric weighting function. By virtue of the reciprocity of antenna, the weighting function can be derived from the field distribution induced in the object by the same antenna when it is operated in the active mode. In this paper, the FD-TD method is used to analyze the problem of coupling between the rectangular waveguide antenna and a biological object. The objects studied in this paper are a homogeneous and a four-layered lossy media. Working frequency is 1.2GHz, which is the center frequency of the lowest-frequency band of our radiometer. Numerical results are presented in the form of SAR patterns. It is found that the SAR patterns tend to spread out in the lateral directions in the bolus, skin and fat layers due to the diffraction which becomes stronger at lower frequencies. Results also suggest that the lateral spreading can be controlled to a certain extent by choosing the size elf antenna flange properly.

An open-ended rectangular waveguide filled with a dielectric has been used as a contact-type antenna of microwave radiometer for non-invasive measurement of temperature in a biological object. In this application, the thermal radiation emitted by the object is measured as the brightness temperature by the instrument via the antenna. The brightness temperature is related to the physical temperatures in the object through the radiometric weighting function. By virtue of the reciprocity of antenna, the weighting function can be derived from the field distribution induced in the object by the antenna when it is operated in the active mode. In this work, we treat a problem of the rectangular waveguide antenna radiating into a four-layered medium by modal analysis. The results are first compared with those obtained by the FD-TD method to indicate that the results of the two methods are in a good agreement. The operation of an antenna used in a radiometer system in our laboratory is analyzed by this method and the weighting functions at different frequencies are computed, and the results are presented along with discussions on the results.