VLSI implementation of a modified min-max median filter using an area and power competent tritonic sorter for image denoising

The prominence of image processing in today's cutting-edge technology is undeniable. Integrating software with hardware leverages both strengths, resulting in a real-time processing system that is efficient and streamlined. Raw images are usually affected by noise, which hinders the acquisition of good-quality and detailed images; hence, denoising becomes necessary. This paper proposes a modified min-max median (MMM) filter to remove impulse noise and a Tritonic sorter to localize corrupted pixels. The proposed denoising method focuses on localizing noisy pixels, unlike traditional denoising approaches, which focus only on noise detection and filtering. A min-max sheet provides the location of the corrupted pixels, and filtering is performed on them. The Tritonic Sorter, consisting of a max locator and a min locator, compares three input values and finds the minimum, maximum and median values among them. Compared to other state-of-the-art methods, the proposed method minimizes the number of comparators needed to carry out the sorting process. The proposed method was synthesized in the ZedBoard Zynq kit using the Vivado tool. The results show that the area improved by 27%, and the power improved by 16.23% compared with those of the existing method.