techreport/preprint available

[Tony Plate]

** Please do not forward to other newsgroups **

The following tech-report is available by ftp from the
neuroprose archive at cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu.

It is an expanded version of the paper "Holographic Reduced
Representations: Convolution Algebra for Compositional
Distributed Representations" which is to appear in the
Proceedings of the 12th International Joint Conference on
Artificial Intelligence (1991).


	    Holographic Reduced Representations

			  Tony Plate
    Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto
	     Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 1A4
		      tap at ai.utoronto.ca

		Technical Report CRG-TR-91-1
			  May 1991


			   Abstract

A solution to the problem of representing compositional structure
using distributed representations is described. The method uses
circular convolution to associate items, which are represented by
vectors.  Arbitrary variable bindings, short sequences of various
lengths, frames, and reduced representations can be compressed
into a fixed width vector. These representations are items in their
own right, and can be used in constructing compositional struc-
tures. The noisy reconstructions given by convolution memories
can be cleaned up by using a separate associative memory that
has good reconstructive properties.

Three appendices are attached.  The first discusses some of the
mathematical properties of convolution memories.  The second
gives a more intuitive explanation of convolution memories and
explores the relationship between approximate and exact inverses
to the convolution operation. The third contains examples of cal-
culations of the capacities and recall probabilities for convolution
memories.

Here's what to do to get the file from neuroprose.

              unix> ftp cheops.cis.ohio-state.edu (or 128.146.8.62)
              Name: anonymous
              Password: neuron
              ftp> cd pub/neuroprose
              ftp> binary
              ftp> get plate.hrr.ps.Z
              ftp> quit
              unix> uncompress plate.hrr.ps.Z
              unix> lpr plate.hrr.ps (or however you print postscript)

If you are unable to get the file in this way, or have
trouble printing it, mail me (tap at ai.utoronto.ca), and I can
send a hardcopy.

---------------- Tony Plate ----------------------  tap at ai.utoronto.ca -----
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, 
10 Kings College Road, Toronto, 
Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A4
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