SPM November 2022

Radio maps characterize quantities of interest in radio communication environments, such as the received signal strength and channel attenuation, at every point of a geographical region. Radio map estimation (RME) typically entails interpolative inference based on spatially distributed measurements. In this tutorial article, after presenting some representative applications of radio maps, the most prominent RME methods are discussed.

Sparse modeling for signal processing and machine learning, in general, has been at the focus of scientific research for over two decades. Among others, supervised sparsity-aware learning (SAL) consists of two major paths paved by 1) discriminative methods that establish direct input–output mapping based on a regularized cost function optimization and 2) generative methods that learn the underlying distributions.

Word art, which is text rendered with properly designed appealing artistic effects, has been a popular form of art throughout human history. Artistic text effects are of great aesthetic value and symbolic significance. Decorating with appropriate effects not only makes text more attractive but also significantly enhances the atmosphere of a scene. Thus, artistic text effects are widely used in publicity and advertising.

Earthquakes have afflicted people throughout history. Today, thanks to advanced technology, more is known about earthquakes, and more can be done to protect people against them. Signal processing is playing a key role as investigators examine ways to combat one of humanity’s most deadly foes.