Single-clock-cycle two-dimensional median filter

Median filters are of interest to image processing due to their ability to remove impulsive noise. Conventional digital implementations of the median function, however, require multiple clock cycles, a number that is proportional to the size of the 2-D data block. We present in the Letter a complete CMOS implementation, which consumes very little power and computes the median in just one clock cycle, independently from the size of the data block.