System and method for designing efficient super resolution deep convolutional neural networks by cascade network training, cascade network trimming, and dilated convolutions

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods of manufacturing same, systems, and methods for generating a convolutional neural network (CNN) are described. In one aspect, a minimal CNN having, e.g., three or more layers is trained. Cascade training may be performed on the trained CNN to insert one or more intermediate layers until a training error is less than a threshold. When cascade training is complete, cascade network trimming of the CNN output from the cascade training may be performed to improve computational efficiency. To further reduce network parameters, convolutional filters may be replaced with dilated convolutional filters with the same receptive field, followed by additional training/fine-tuning.