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The ever increasing demand for high image quality requires fast and efficient methods for noise reduction. The best known order-statistics filter is the median filter.A method is presented to calculate the median on a set of N W-bit integers in B W time steps. Blocks containing B-bit slices are used to find B-bits of the median; using a novel quantum-like representation allowing the median to be computed in an accelerated manner compared to the best known method (W time steps). The general method allows a variety of designs to be synthesised systematically. A further novel architecture to calculate the median for a moving set of N integers is also discussed. Introduction:The median filter is the most common non-linear spatial filter known for

The core processing step of the noise reduction median filter technique is to find the median within a window of integers. A four-step procedure method to compute the running median of the last N W-bit stream of integers showing area and time benefits is proposed. The method slices integers into groups of B-bit using a pipeline of W/B blocks. From the method, an architecture is developed giving a designer the flexibility to exchange area gains for faster frequency of operation, or vice versa, by adjusting N, W and B parameter values. Gains in area of around 40%, or in frequency of operation of around 20%, are clearly observed by FPGA circuit implementations compared with latest methods in the literature.

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