Automatic Environmental Sound Recognition: Performance versus Computational Cost

In the context of the Internet of Things (IoT), sound sensing applications are required to run on embedded platforms where notions of product pricing and form factor impose hard constraints on the available computing power. Whereas Automatic Environmental Sound Recognition (AESR) algorithms are most often developed with limited consideration for computational cost, this article seeks which AESR algorithm can make the most of a limited amount of computing power by comparing the sound classification performance em as a function of its computational cost. Results suggest that Deep Neural Networks yield the best ratio of sound classification accuracy across a range of computational costs, while Gaussian Mixture Models offer a reasonable accuracy at a consistently small cost, and Support Vector Machines stand between both in terms of compromise between accuracy and computational cost

Reservoir Computing Approach to Robust Computation using Unreliable Nanoscale Networks

As we approach the physical limits of CMOS technology, advances in materials science and nanotechnology are making available a variety of unconventional computing substrates that can potentially replace top-down-designed silicon-based computing devices. Inherent stochasticity in the fabrication process and nanometer scale of these substrates inevitably lead to design variations, defects, faults, and noise in the resulting devices. A key challenge is how to harness such devices to perform robust computation. We propose reservoir computing as a solution. In reservoir computing, computation takes place by translating the dynamics of an excited medium, called a reservoir, into a desired output. This approach eliminates the need for external control and redundancy, and the programming is done using a closed-form regression problem on the output, which also allows concurrent programming using a single device. Using a theoretical model, we show that both regular and irregular reservoirs are intrinsically robust to structural noise as they perform computation

Spatio-temporal learning with the online finite and infinite echo-state Gaussian processes

Successful biological systems adapt to change. In this paper, we are principally concerned with adaptive systems that operate in environments where data arrives sequentially and is multivariate in nature, for example, sensory streams in robotic systems. We contribute two reservoir inspired methods: 1) the online echostate Gaussian process (OESGP) and 2) its infinite variant, the online infinite echostate Gaussian process (OIESGP) Both algorithms are iterative fixed-budget methods that learn from noisy time series. In particular, the OESGP combines the echo-state network with Bayesian online learning for Gaussian processes. Extending this to infinite reservoirs yields the OIESGP, which uses a novel recursive kernel with automatic relevance determination that enables spatial and temporal feature weighting. When fused with stochastic natural gradient descent, the kernel hyperparameters are iteratively adapted to better model the target system. Furthermore, insights into the underlying system can be gleamed from inspection of the resulting hyperparameters. Experiments on noisy benchmark problems (one-step prediction and system identification) demonstrate that our methods yield high accuracies relative to state-of-the-art methods, and standard kernels with sliding windows, particularly on problems with irrelevant dimensions. In addition, we describe two case studies in robotic learning-by-demonstration involving the Nao humanoid robot and the Assistive Robot Transport for Youngsters (ARTY) smart wheelchair

A Noise-Tolerant Zeroing Neural Network for Time-Dependent Complex Matrix Inversion Under Various Kinds of Noises

Complex-valued time-dependent matrix inversion (TDMI) is extensively exploited in practical industrial and engineering fields. Many current neural models are presented to find the inverse of a matrix in an ideal noise-free environment. However, the outer interferences are normally believed to be ubiquitous and avoidable in practice. If these neural models are applied to complex-valued TDMI in a noise environment, they need to take a lot of precious time to deal with outer noise disturbances in advance. Thus, a noise-suppression model is urgent to be proposed to address this problem. In this article, a complex-valued noise-tolerant zeroing neural network (CVNTZNN) on the basis of an integral-type design formula is established and investigated for finding complex-valued TDMI under a wide variety of noises. Furthermore, both convergence and robustness of the CVNTZNN model are carefully analyzed and rigorously proved. For comparison and verification purposes, the existing zeroing neural network (ZNN) and gradient neural network (GNN) have been presented to address the same problem under the same conditions. Numerical simulation consequences demonstrate the effectiveness and excellence of the proposed CVNTZNN model for complex-valued TDMI under various kinds of noises, by comparing the existing ZNN and GNN models

Design and Comprehensive Analysis of a Noise-Tolerant ZNN Model With Limited-Time Convergence for Time-Dependent Nonlinear Minimization

Zeroing neural network (ZNN) is a powerful tool to address the mathematical and optimization problems broadly arisen in the science and engineering areas. The convergence and robustness are always co-pursued in ZNN. However, there exists no related work on the ZNN for time-dependent nonlinear minimization that achieves simultaneously limited-time convergence and inherently noise suppression. In this article, for the purpose of satisfying such two requirements, a limited-time robust neural network (LTRNN) is devised and presented to solve time-dependent nonlinear minimization under various external disturbances. Different from the previous ZNN model for this problem either with limited-time convergence or with noise suppression, the proposed LTRNN model simultaneously possesses such two characteristics. Besides, rigorous theoretical analyses are given to prove the superior performance of the LTRNN model when adopted to solve time-dependent nonlinear minimization under external disturbances. Comparative results also substantiate the effectiveness and advantages of LTRNN via solving a time-dependent nonlinear minimization problem