Reduction of necessary precision for the learning of pattern recognition

The authors propose a novel learning algorithm with weighted error function (WEF). They have reduced the necessary precision for the learning of multi-font alpha-numeric recognition to 10-bit fixed point precision using the WEF. The WEF raises the recognition accuracy by more than 25% when the precision of all operations (including multiplication and addition) and the precision of all data (including weights and backpropagation signals) are limited to 10-bit fixed point. This improves the feasibility of analog implementation and lessens the data width of digital implementation. The performance of the WEF is high even with a small number of hidden neurons. This enables the reduction of weight memory. Furthermore, the WEF accelerates the learning and thus refines the adaptability of backpropagation. >