A Survey of Gaussian Convolution Algorithms

Gaussian convolution is a common operation and building block for algorithms in signal and image processing. Consequently, its efficient computation is important, and many fast approximations have been proposed. In this survey, we discuss approximate Gaussian convolution based on finite impulse response filters, DFT and DCT based convolution, box filters, and several recursive filters. Since boundary handling is sometimes overlooked in the original works, we pay particular attention to develop it here. We perform numerical experiments to compare the speed and quality of the algorithms.