Special purpose neurocomputers: an automatic design approach

A methodology to design a digital special purpose neurocomputer implementing feedforward multilayer neural networks is presented. The design flow consists of three stages: the weight discretization, which relaxes the precision requirements maintaining the compatibility with the original model; the architectural synthesis, which transforms the abstract description into an optimized digital structure; and the VHDL model generation, which produces the VHDL description of the general purpose neurocomputer by using a set of parametric components.