SPARCO: a toolbox for testing sparse reconstruction algorithms

Sparco is a suite of problems for testing and benchmarking algorithms for sparse signal reconstruction. It is also an environment for creating new test problems, and a suite of standard linear operators is provided from which new problems can be assembled. Sparco is implement ed entirely in Matlab and is self contained. (A few optional test problems are based on the CurveLab toolbox, which can be installed separately.) At the core of the sparse recovery problem is the linear system $Ax+r=b$, where $A$ is an $m$-by-$n$ linear operator and the $m$-vector $b$ is the observed signal. The goal is to find a sparse $n$-vector $x$ such that $r$ is small in norm.