Dharmpal Takhar

Single-Pixel Imaging via Compressive Sampling

In this article, the authors present a new approach to building simpler, smaller, and cheaper digital cameras that can operate efficiently across a broader spectral range than conventional silicon-based cameras. The approach fuses a new camera architecture based on a digital micromirror device with the new mathematical theory and algorithms of compressive sampling.

A new compressive imaging camera architecture using optical-domain compression

Compressive Sensing is an emerging field based on the revelation that a small number of linear projections of a compressible signal contain enough information for reconstruction and processing. It has many promising implications and enables the design of new kinds of Compressive Imaging systems and cameras. In this paper, we develop a new camera architecture that employs a digital micromirror array to perform optical calculations of linear projections of an image onto pseudorandom binary patterns. Its hallmarks include the ability to obtain an image with a single detection element while sampling the image fewer times than the number of pixels. Other attractive properties include its universality, robustness, scalability, progressivity, and computational asymmetry. The most intriguing feature of the system is that, since it relies on a single photon detector, it can be adapted to image at wavelengths that are currently impossible with conventional CCD and CMOS imagers.

A single-pixel terahertz imaging system based on compressed sensing

We describe a terahertz imaging system that uses a single pixel detector in combination with a series of random masks to enable high-speed image acquisition. The image formation is based on the theory of compressed sensing, which permits the reconstruction of a N-by-N pixel image using much fewer than N2 measurements. This approach eliminates the need for raster scanning of the object or the terahertz beam, while maintaining the high sensitivity of a single-element detector. We demonstrate the concept using a pulsed terahertz time-domain system and show the reconstruction of both amplitude and phase-contrast images. The idea of compressed sensing is quite general and could also be implemented with a continuous-wave terahertz source.

An Architecture for Compressive Imaging

Compressive sensing is an emerging field based on the rev elation that a small group of non-adaptive linear projections of a compressible signal contains enough information for reconstruction and processing. In this paper, we propose algorithms and hardware to support a new theory of compressive imaging. Our approach is based on a new digital image/video camera that directly acquires random projections of the signal without first collecting the pixels/voxels. Our camera architecture employs a digital micromirror array to perform optical calculations of linear projections of an image onto pseudorandom binary patterns. Its hallmarks include the ability to obtain an image with a single detection element while measuring the image/video fewer times than the number of pixels this can significantly reduce the computation required for video acquisition/encoding. Because our system relies on a single photon detector, it can also be adapted to image at wavelengths that are currently impossible with conventional CCD and CMOS imagers. We are currently testing a proto type design for the camera and include experimental results.

The smashed filter for compressive classification and target recognition

The theory of compressive sensing (CS) enables the reconstruction of a sparse or compressible image or signal from a small set of linear, non-adaptive (even random) projections. However, in many applications, including object and target recognition, we are ultimately interested in making a decision about an image rather than computing a reconstruction. We propose here a framework for compressive classification that operates directly on the compressive measurements without first reconstructing the image. We dub the resulting dimensionally reduced matched filter the smashed filter. The first part of the theory maps traditional maximum likelihood hypothesis testing into the compressive domain; we find that the number of measurements required for a given classification performance level does not depend on the sparsity or compressibility of the images but only on the noise level. The second part of the theory applies the generalized maximum likelihood method to deal with unknown transformations such as the translation, scale, or viewing angle of a target object. We exploit the fact the set of transformed images forms a low-dimensional, nonlinear manifold in the high-dimensional image space. We find that the number of measurements required for a given classification performance level grows linearly in the dimensionality of the manifold but only logarithmically in the number of pixels/samples and image classes. Using both simulations and measurements from a new single-pixel compressive camera, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the smashed filter for target classification using very few measurements.

Multiscale Random Projections for Compressive Classification

We propose a framework for exploiting dimension-reducing random projections in detection and classification problems. Our approach is based on the generalized likelihood ratio test; in the case of image classification, it exploits the fact that a set of images of a fixed scene under varying articulation parameters forms a low-dimensional, nonlinear manifold. Exploiting recent results showing that random projections stably embed a smooth manifold in a lower-dimensional space, we develop the multiscale smashed filter as a compressive analog of the familiar matched filter classifier. In a practical target classification problem using a single-pixel camera that directly acquires compressive image projections, we achieve high classification rates using many fewer measurements than the dimensionality of the images.

A single-pixel terahertz camera

We describe a single-pixel, pulsed terahertz camera which uses random patterns to enable high-speed image acquisition. Our method requires no raster scanning of objects, nor detection using a focal-plane array.

A Single Pixel Camera Based on White-Noise Compressed Sensing

We design a camera by combining a micromirror-array with a single optical sensor and exploiting compressed sensing based on projections with white-noise basis. A practical image/video camera is developed based on this concept and realized.