A review of RFI mitigation techniques in microwave radiometry

Radio frequency interference (RFI) is a well-known problem in microwave radiometry (MWR). Any undesired signal overlapping the MWR protected frequency bands introduces a bias in the measurements, which can corrupt the retrieved geophysical parameters. This paper presents a literature review of RFI detection and mitigation techniques for microwave radiometry from space. The reviewed techniques are divided between real aperture and aperture synthesis. A discussion and assessment of the application of RFI mitigation techniques is presented for each type of radiometer.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A Novel Rate Control Algorithm for Onboard Predictive Coding of Multispectral and Hyperspectral Images

Predictive coding is attractive for compression onboard of spacecrafts thanks to its low computational complexity, modest memory requirements and the ability to accurately control quality on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Traditionally, predictive compression focused on the lossless and near-lossless modes of operation where the maximum error can be bounded but the rate of the compressed image is variable. Rate control is considered a challenging problem for predictive encoders due to the dependencies between quantization and prediction in the feedback loop, and the lack of a signal representation that packs the signal's energy into few coefficients. In this paper, we show that it is possible to design a rate control scheme intended for onboard implementation. In particular, we propose a general framework to select quantizers in each spatial and spectral region of an image so as to achieve the desired target rate while minimizing distortion. The rate control algorithm allows to achieve lossy, near-lossless compression, and any in-between type of compression, e.g., lossy compression with a near-lossless constraint. While this framework is independent of the specific predictor used, in order to show its performance, in this paper we tailor it to the predictor adopted by the CCSDS-123 lossless compression standard, obtaining an extension that allows to perform lossless, near-lossless and lossy compression in a single package. We show that the rate controller has excellent performance in terms of accuracy in the output rate, rate-distortion characteristics and is extremely competitive with respect to state-of-the-art transform coding

Data-driven multivariate and multiscale methods for brain computer interface

This thesis focuses on the development of data-driven multivariate and multiscale methods for brain computer interface (BCI) systems. The electroencephalogram (EEG), the most convenient means to measure neurophysiological activity due to its noninvasive nature, is mainly considered. The nonlinearity and nonstationarity inherent in EEG and its multichannel recording nature require a new set of data-driven multivariate techniques to estimate more accurately features for enhanced BCI operation. Also, a long term goal is to enable an alternative EEG recording strategy for achieving long-term and portable monitoring. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and local mean decomposition (LMD), fully data-driven adaptive tools, are considered to decompose the nonlinear and nonstationary EEG signal into a set of components which are highly localised in time and frequency. It is shown that the complex and multivariate extensions of EMD, which can exploit common oscillatory modes within multivariate (multichannel) data, can be used to accurately estimate and compare the amplitude and phase information among multiple sources, a key for the feature extraction of BCI system. A complex extension of local mean decomposition is also introduced and its operation is illustrated on two channel neuronal spike streams. Common spatial pattern (CSP), a standard feature extraction technique for BCI application, is also extended to complex domain using the augmented complex statistics. Depending on the circularity/noncircularity of a complex signal, one of the complex CSP algorithms can be chosen to produce the best classification performance between two different EEG classes. Using these complex and multivariate algorithms, two cognitive brain studies are investigated for more natural and intuitive design of advanced BCI systems. Firstly, a Yarbus-style auditory selective attention experiment is introduced to measure the user attention to a sound source among a mixture of sound stimuli, which is aimed at improving the usefulness of hearing instruments such as hearing aid. Secondly, emotion experiments elicited by taste and taste recall are examined to determine the pleasure and displeasure of a food for the implementation of affective computing. The separation between two emotional responses is examined using real and complex-valued common spatial pattern methods. Finally, we introduce a novel approach to brain monitoring based on EEG recordings from within the ear canal, embedded on a custom made hearing aid earplug. The new platform promises the possibility of both short- and long-term continuous use for standard brain monitoring and interfacing applications

Adaptive Signal Processing Techniques and Realistic Propagation Modeling for Multiantenna Vital Sign Estimation

Tämän työn keskeisimpänä tavoitteena on ihmisen elintoimintojen tarkkailu ja estimointi käyttäen radiotaajuisia mittauksia ja adaptiivisia signaalinkäsittelymenetelmiä monen vastaanottimen kantoaaltotutkalla. Työssä esitellään erilaisia adaptiivisia menetelmiä, joiden avulla hengityksen ja sydämen värähtelyn aiheuttamaa micro-Doppler vaihemodulaatiota sisältävät eri vastaanottimien signaalit voidaan yhdistää. Työssä johdetaan lisäksi realistinen malli radiosignaalien etenemiselle ja heijastushäviöille, jota käytettiin moniantennitutkan simuloinnissa esiteltyjen menetelmien vertailemiseksi. Saatujen tulosten perusteella voidaan osoittaa, että adaptiiviset menetelmät parantavat langattoman elintoimintojen estimoinnin luotettavuutta, ja mahdollistavat monitoroinnin myös pienillä signaali-kohinasuhteen arvoilla.This thesis addresses the problem of vital sign estimation through the use of adaptive signal enhancement techniques with multiantenna continuous wave radar. The use of different adaptive processing techniques is proposed in a novel approach to combine signals from multiple receivers carrying the information of the cardiopulmonary micro-Doppler effect caused by breathing and heartbeat. The results are based on extensive simulations using a realistic signal propagation model derived in the thesis. It is shown that these techniques provide a significant increase in vital sign rate estimation accuracy, and enable monitoring at lower SNR conditions

The Effect of a Voice Activity Detector on the Speech Enhancement

A multimicrophone speech enhancement algorithm for binaural hearing aids that preserves interaural time delays was proposed recently. The algorithm is based on multichannel Wiener filtering and relies on a voice activity detector (VAD) for estimation of second-order statistics. Here, the effect of a VAD on the speech enhancement of this algorithm was evaluated using an envelope-based VAD, and the performance was compared to that achieved using an ideal error-free VAD. The performance was considered for stationary directional noise and nonstationary diffuse noise interferers at input SNRs from 10 to +5dB. Intelligibility-weighted SNR improvements of about 20dB and 6dB were found for the directional and diffuse noise, respectively. No large degradations (<1dB) due to the use of envelope-based VAD were found down to an input SNR of 0dB for the directional noise and 5dB for the diffuse noise. At lower input SNRs, the improvement decreased gradually to 15dB for the directional noise and 3dB for the diffuse noise.12 page(s

A control algorithm for autonomous optimization of extracellular recordings

This paper develops a control algorithm that can autonomously position an electrode so as to find and then maintain an optimal extracellular recording position. The algorithm was developed and tested in a two-neuron computational model representative of the cells found in cerebral cortex. The algorithm is based on a stochastic optimization of a suitably defined signal quality metric and is shown capable of finding the optimal recording position along representative sampling directions, as well as maintaining the optimal signal quality in the face of modeled tissue movements. The application of the algorithm to acute neurophysiological recording experiments and its potential implications to chronic recording electrode arrays are discussed