Performance Aspects Considerations of a Class of Artificial Neural Network

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) or connectionist systems are computing systems inspired by the biological neural networks that constitute animal brains. Such systems learn (progressively improve performance on) tasks by considering examples, generally without task-specific programming. For example, in image recognition, they might learn to identify images that contain cats by analyzing example images that have been manually labeled as "cat" or "no cat" and using the results to identify cats in other images.

They do this without any a priori knowledge about cats, e.g., that they have fur, tails, whiskers and cat-like faces. Instead, they evolve their own set of relevant characteristics from the learning material that they process. An ANN is based on a collection of connected units or nodes called artificial neurons (analogous to biological neurons in an animal brain). Each connection (analogous to a synapse) between artificial neurons can transmit a signal from one to another.

The artificial neuron that receives the signal can process it and then signal artificial neurons connected to it. In common ANN implementations, the signal at a connection between artificial neurons is a real number, and the output of each artificial neuron is calculated by a non-linear function of the sum of its inputs. Artificial neurons and connections typically have a weight that adjusts as learning proceeds. The weight increases or decreases the strength of the signal at a connection. Artificial neurons may have a threshold such that only if the aggregate signal crosses that threshold is the signal sent. Typically, artificial neurons are organized in layers. Different layers may perform different kinds of transformations on their inputs. Signals travel from the first (input), to the last (output) layer, possibly after traversing the layers multiple times.

The original goal of the ANN approach was to solve problems in the same way that a human brain would. Over time, attention focused on matching specific mental abilities, leading to deviations from biology. ANNs have been used on a variety of tasks, including computer vision, speech recognition, machine translation, social network filtering, playing board and video games and medical diagnosis.