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Sound Event Detection: A tutorial

Imagine standing on a street corner in the city. With your eyes closed you can hear and recognize a succession of sounds: cars passing by, people speaking, their footsteps when they walk by, and the continuous falling of rain. The recognition of all these sounds and interpretation of the perceived scene as a city street soundscape comes naturally to humans. It is, however, the result of years of "training": 

Tracking and Estimation of Frequency, Amplitude, and Form Factor of a Harmonic Time Series

Formulas for estimating and tracking the (time-dependent) frequency, form factor, and amplitude of harmonic time series are presented in this lecture note; in particular, sine-dominant signals, where the harmonics follow roughly the dominant first harmonic, such as photoplethysmography (PPG) and breathing signals. Special attention is paid to the convergence behavior of the algorithm for stationary signals and the dynamic behavior in case of a transition to another stationary state. The latter issue is considered to be important for assessing the tracking abilities for nonstationary signals.

Sketching Data Sets for Large-Scale Learning: Keeping only what you need

Big data can be a blessing: with very large training data sets it becomes possible to perform complex learning tasks with unprecedented accuracy. Yet, this improved performance comes at the price of enormous computational challenges. Thus, one may wonder: Is it possible to leverage the information content of huge data sets while keeping computational resources under control? 

Smart Home Technologies Are Saving Money and Lives: Reaching out in new directions, signal processing-supported smart technologies are rapidly changing-and improving-everyday life

Smart home technologies, designed to make users happier, healthier, and wealthier, are rapidly becoming a mainstay of everyday life. In most cases, signal processing is essential to the devices' operation and performance. These days, a variety of intelligent automated devices can be found in nearly every home. The trend is accelerating so rapidly that it now appears inevitable that smart technology will soon be integrated into virtually every facet of daily life.

“She Changed Astronomy Forever. He Won the Nobel Prize for It.”

It’s been a while since I last wrote a column for IEEE Signal Processing Magazine. I will try to address here some of the many questions and changes that arose since the beginning of the year. But before I do so, I would like to invite you to watch a short documentary by Ben Proudfoot with the exact title of this column: “She Changed Astronomy Forever. He Won the Nobel Prize for It.”

72 Signal Processing Society Members Elevated to Senior Member!

The IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) is honored to announce the elevation of 72 of its members to the grade of IEEE Senior Member. These members have demonstrated outstanding professional performance, exhibited professional maturity through long-term experience, and established themselves as leaders in their respective IEEE-designated fields of interest. 

Election of President-Elect, Regional Directors-at-Large and Members-at-Large

It is my pleasure to announce that the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) annual election will commence on 16 August, and your vote is more important than ever! This year, all eligible SPS Members will vote for the next President-Elect (term 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2023), in addition to the Regional Directors-at-Large for Regions 7 & 9 and 10 (term 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2023), and Members-at-Large (term 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2024) of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Board of Governors (BoG).

Call for Nominations: Awards Board and Nominations & Appointments Committee

In accordance with the Bylaws of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, I am writing to solicit nominations for the Awards Board and the Nominations and Appointments (N&A) Committee. This year, the Society will be filling THREE positions on the N&A Committee for the term 2022-2023 and TWO positions on the Awards Board for the term 2022-2024. Nominations must be received no later than Friday, 24 September 2021.