Four Papers Available

nelsonde%avlab.dnet@aaunix.aa.wpafb.af.mil nelsonde%avlab.dnet at aaunix.aa.wpafb.af.mil
Mon Nov 2 15:06:16 EST 1992


                  I N T E R O F F I C E   M E M O R A N D U M

                                        Date:     02-Nov-1992 02:56pm EST
                                        From:     DALE E. NELSON
                                                  NELSONDE
                                        Dept:     AAAT-1
                                        Tel No:   57646

TO:  Remote Addressee                     ( _AAUNIX::"CONNECTIONISTS at CS.CMU.EDU" )


Subject: Four Papers Available

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Prediction of Chaotic Time Series Using Cascade Correlation:  
Effects of  Number of Inputs and Training Set Size

Dale E. Nelson 
D. David Ensley
Maj Steven K. Rogers, PhD

ABSTRACT

	Most neural networks have been used for problems of 
classification.  We have undertaken a study using neural networks 
to predict continuous valued functions which are aperiodic or 
chaotic.  In addition, we are considering a relatively new class 
of neural networks, ontogenic neural networks.  Ontogenic neural 
networks are networks which generate their own topology during 
training.  Cascade Correlation2 is one such network.  In this 
study we used the Cascade Correlation neural network to answer 
two questions regarding prediction.  First, how do the number of 
inputs affect prediction accuracy.  Second, how do the number of 
training exemplars affect prediction accuracy.  For these 
experiments, the Mackey-Glass equation was used with a Tau value 
of 17 which yields a correlation dimension of 2.1.  Takens' 
theorem7 for this data set states that the number of inputs to 
obtain a smooth mapping should be 3 to 5.  We were experimentally 
able to verify this.  Experiments were run varying the number of 
training exemplars from 50 to 450.  The results showed that there 
is an overall trend towards lower predictive RMS error with a 
greater number of exemplars.  However, there are good results 
obtained with only 50 exemplars which we are unable to explain at 
this time.  In addition to these results, we discovered that the 
way in which predictive accuracy is generally represented, a 
graph of Mackey-Glass with the network output superimposed, can 
lead to erroneous conclusions!

This paper is NOT available from Neuroprose.  For paper copies 
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A Taxonomy of Neural Network Optimality

Dale E. Nelson
Maj Steven K. Rogers, PhD

ABSTRACT
One of the long-standing problems with neural networks is how to 
decide on the correct topology for a given application.  For many 
years the accepted approach was to use heuristics to "get close", 
then experiment to find the best topology.  In recent years 
methodologies like the Abductory Inference Mechanism (AIM) from 
AbTech Corporation and Cascade Correlation from Carnegie Mellon 
University have emerged.  These ontogenic (topology synthesizing) 
neural networks develop their topology by deciding when and what 
kind of nodes to add to the network during the training phase.  
Other methodologies examine the weights and try to "improve" by 
pruning some of the weights.  This paper discusses the criteria 
which can be used to decide when one network topology is better 
than another.  The taxonomy presented in this paper can be used 
to decide on methods for comparison of different neural network 
paradigms.  Since the criteria for determining what is an optimum 
network is highly application specific, no attempt is made to 
propose the one right criteria.  This taxonomy is a necessary 
step toward achieving robust ontogenic neural networks.

This paper is NOT available from Neuroprose.  For paper copies 
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APPLYING CASCADE CORRELATION TO THE EXTRAPOLATION OF CHAOTIC TIME 
SERIES



David Ensley
Dale E. Nelson

ABSTRACT

Attempting to find near-optimal architectures, ontogenic neural 
networks develop their own architectures as they train.  As part 
of a project entitled "Ontogenic Neural Networks for the 
Prediction of Chaotic Time Series," this paper presents findings 
of a ten-week research period on using the Cascade Correlation 
ontogenic neural network to extrapolate (predict) a chaotic time 
series generated from the Mackey-Glass equation.  Truer, more 
informative measures of extrapolation accuracy than currently 
popular measures are presented.  The effects of some network 
parameters on extrapolation accuracy were investigated.  
Sinusoidal activation functions turned out to be best for our 
data set.  The best range for sigmoidal activation functions was 
[-1, +1].  One experiment demonstrates that extrapolation 
accuracy can be maximized by selecting the proper number of 
training exemplars.  Though surprisingly good extrapolations have 
been obtained, there remain pitfalls.  These pitfalls are 
discussed along with possible methods for avoiding them.


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APPLYING THE ABDUCTORY INDUCTION MECHANISM (AIM) TO THE 
EXTRAPOLATION OF CHAOTIC TIME SERIES

Dennis S. Buck
Dale E. Nelson

ABSTRACT

	This paper presents research done as part of a large effort to 
develop ontogenic (topology synthesizing) neural networks.  One 
commerically available product, considered an ontogenic neural 
network, is the Abductory Induction Mechanism (AIM) program from 
AbTech Corporation of Charlottesville, Virginia.  AIM creates a 
polynomial neural network of the third order during training.  
The methodology will discard any inputs it finds having a low 
relevance to predicting the training output.  The depth and 
complexity of the network is controlled by a user-set Complexity 
Penalty Multiplier (CPM).  This paper presents results of using 
AIM to predict the output of the Mackey-Glass equation.  
Comparisons are made based on the RMS error for an iterated 
prediction of 100 time steps beyond the training set.  The data 
set was developed using a Tau value of 17 which yields a 
correlation dimension (an approximation of the fractal dimension) 
of 2.1.  We explored the effect of different CPM values and found 
that a CPM value of 4.8 gives the best predictive results with 
the least computational complexity.  We also conducted 
experiments using 2 to 10 inputs and 1 to 3 outputs.  We found 
that AIM chose to use only 2 or 3 inputs, due to its ability to 
eliminate unnecessary inputs.  This leads to the conclusion that 
Takens' theorem cannot be experimentally verified by this 
methodology!  Our experiments showed that using 2 or 3 outputs, 
thus forcing the network to learn the first and second derivative 
of the equation, produced the best predictive results.  We also 
discovered that the final network produced a predictive RMS error 
lower than the Cascade Correlation method with far less 
computational time.

This paper is NOT available from Neuroprose.  For paper copies 
send E-Mail with your mailing address to :

nelsonde%avlab.dnet%aa.wpafb.af.mil

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