VUB ETRO

The Electronics and Information Processing Department (ETRO) at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) has established three research groups: LAMI (Laboratory for Micro- and Optoelectronics), DSSP for digital signal and language processing, IRIS for digital image processing.

Expertise

A variety of the expertise domains closely dovetail with the activities and objectives of IBBT:

Content analysis

Audiovisual content analysis by way of temporal segmentation (automated summary of audiovisual information);
The segmentation of images into meaningful objects;
Motion analysis and following of objects (following of vehicles, face modelling, etc.);
Automated modelling of three-dimensional scenes;
Stochastically graphic models (for instance perceptual organisation);
Active viewing.

Speech technology and audio modelling, with research in the areas of:

Automated clarification of spoken messages;
Prosodic modifications of speech;
Voice modification and voice conversion;
Audiovisual speech synthesis;
Modelling with the help of harmonics, tones and noise.

Representation of multimedia signals

Audio and speech coding, perceptive coding;
Synthesis of audio signals;
Image coding (JPEG, JPEG2000, etc.);
Video coding (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-21 SVC, H.264);
Coding of animations for 2D/3D graphics (MPEG-4 AFX).

Error-resistant transmission of multimedia signals

Unequal error protection and multiple writing mechanisms;
Joint channel source coding;
Techniques for error correction and error masking;
IP packaging.

Efficient hardware/software implementation of signal processing algorithms, with the objective of finding an optimal relationship between algorithmic functionality and reliability.

Applications

ETRO carries out research in a large number of application domains, such as:

Multimedia;
Digital television;
Industrial visual inspection;
Communications in medical applications and the analysis of medical data;
Sonorisation;
Audiovisual archiving;
Humanitarian de-mining;
Automotive.

This illustrates the engagement of ETRO, in an effective use of the results of a fundamental research for technological innovation.

Projects

The group has participated in a large number of research projects;

Nationally: IWT, FWO, DWTC, BWTS;
Internationally: EU, ESA;
A number of bilateral industrial projects.

ETRO is a member of such standardisation committees as ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG1 (JPEG) and ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 (MPEG). It has provided successful technological contributions to standards and standardisation processes in both organisations. An excellent example is the adoption of its mesh representation technology (MeshGrid) with MPEG-4 AFX

Website: http://www.etro.vub.ac.be