Stochastic Resonance: From Suprathreshold Stochastic Resonance to Stochastic Signal Quantization

The stochastic resonance phenomenon has been observed in many forms of systems and has been debated by scientists for 30 years. Applications incorporating aspects of stochastic resonance have yet to prove revolutionary in fields such as distributed sensor networks, nano-electronics, and biomedical prosthetics. The initial chapters review stochastic resonance basics and outline some of the controversies and debates that have surrounded it. The book continues to discuss stochastic quantization in a model where all threshold devices are not necessarily identical, but are still independently noisy. Finally, it considers various constraints and tradeoffs in the performance of stochastic quantizers. Each chapter ends with a review summarizing the main points, and open questions to guide researchers into finding new research directions.

Mark D. McDonnell is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia. Prior to this, he was at The University of Adelaide. His research interests are in the field of nonlinear signal processing, and bio-inspired engineering.

Nigel G. Stocks is a Professor in the School of Engineering at Warwick University. His research lies in stochastic nonlinear systems and biometrics.

Charles E. M. Pearce is Thomas Elder Professor of Mathematics at the School of Mathematics, University of Adelaide, and is editor of several journals.

Derek Abbott is a Professor in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide. He has received several awards and has been editor or guest editor on a number of journals.