Removal of impulse noise using a FIRE filter

FIRE (Fuzzy Inference Ruled by Else-action) operators are a family of nonlinear operators which adopt fuzzy rules to process image data. A new operator, called DS-FIRE filter, is presented in this paper for the enhancement of images corrupted by impulse noise. By performing fuzzy reasoning at two different levels, the operator is able to effectively cancel noise pulses without degrading the quality of fine details and textures. The new fuzzy rulebase and inference mechanism which have been specifically developed for this operator are described in details. Results of computer simulations show that the filter performs better than state-of the-art operators in the literature.