  This paper presents a convolutional layer that is able to process sparse
input features. As an example, for image recognition problems this allows an
efficient filtering of signals that do not lie on a dense grid (like pixel
position), but of more general features (such as color values). The presented
algorithm makes use of the permutohedral lattice data structure. The
permutohedral lattice was introduced to efficiently implement a bilateral
filter, a commonly used image processing operation. Its use allows for a
generalization of the convolution type found in current (spatial) convolutional
network architectures.
