  Single image super-resolution (SISR) is a notoriously challenging ill-posed
problem, which aims to obtain a high-resolution (HR) output from one of its
low-resolution (LR) versions. To solve the SISR problem, recently powerful deep
learning algorithms have been employed and achieved the state-of-the-art
performance. In this survey, we review representative deep learning-based SISR
methods, and group them into two categories according to their major
contributions to two essential aspects of SISR: the exploration of efficient
neural network architectures for SISR, and the development of effective
optimization objectives for deep SISR learning. For each category, a baseline
is firstly established and several critical limitations of the baseline are
summarized. Then representative works on overcoming these limitations are
presented based on their original contents as well as our critical
understandings and analyses, and relevant comparisons are conducted from a
variety of perspectives. Finally we conclude this review with some vital
current challenges and future trends in SISR leveraging deep learning
algorithms.
