Efficient enumeration of 2D Euclidean distances

The computation of the Euclidean distance is an important aspect in many signal processing applications, especially those related to pattern classification systems and communication systems. Most communication systems compute the Euclidean distance between a given set of candidates (called objects) and a given vector (called a query). In this paper we present an algorithm for the computation of the Euclidean distance in a two dimensional space, which is suitable for VLSI implementation. The algorithm only computes the necessary distances, in contrast to current approaches, which rely on the availability of the distances of all candidates to the center. The advantages of the proposed algorithm over conventional ones are presented.