Neural-model, information-handling architecture and method

• US 4,796,199 A
• Filed: 02/24/1987
• Issued: 01/03/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Oregon Graduate Center
• Original Assignee: Oregon Graduate Center
• Inventors: Bailey, James L., Hammerstrom, Daniel W.
• Primary Examiner(s): MACDONALD, ALLEN R
• Application Number:
  US07/017,788
• Time in Patent Office: 679 Days
• Field of Search: 364/513, 364/300, 382/14, 382/15, 382/36, 382/37, 382/38
• US Class Current: 706/15
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/04 Architecture, e.g. interconnection topology

Abstract

A neural-model computational method and architecture structure based on connectionism featuring broadcast-hierarchical, locality-of-communication-dominant operation. According to the hierarchical nature of the invention, the system thereof is organized into plural communication levels, wherein what might be thought of as a lower level handles all communications that take place solely on that level, and what might be thought of as a higher level handles "long-distance" communications interlevel. Communication takes place in what is referred to herein as a braodcast manner in the sense that a communicating source broadcasts its communication simultaneously to the entirety of that part of the system wherein expected recipients are located. The locality-of-communication-dominance feature groups and organizes the various communication sources generally in accordance with their respective frequencies of communication, assigning addresses, respectively, whose lengths generally relate in an inverse proportion to these frequencies.

Claims

1. A neural-model, broadcast-hierarchical, locality-of-communication-dominant, information-handling architecture structure comprising

a first information-handling level, including plural information-handling families organized into plural groups of such families, with each family in each group including at least two communication units and an associated communication center for communicating via a first level communication bus, directly on said first level, only with its family-associated units and with the communication centers in the other families in the same group, thus to enable broadcast communication, and simultaneous cooperative information handling, between different, respective, selected units in the families in the group, and

at least one other, higher-level, information-handling level, including means operatively communicative directly with said communication centers in the families in said first level for enabling the selective broadcast communication of information between different centers in the different groups via second level communication bus, thus to accommodate broadcast communication, and simultaneous cooperative information handling, between selected units in the families in different groups which share said first level.

2. The structure of claim 1, wherein each communication unit comprises a virtual (connection) node, and each communication center comprises a physical (computational) node.

3. The structure of claims 1 or 2, wherein each communication unit, in conjunction with its family,s communication center, is assigned a bit address, and the same communicates with other communication units through a procedure which includes broadcasting of such address.

4. The structure of claims 1 or 2, wherein certain families operatively reside in more than one group.

5. A neural-model, broadcast-hierarchical, locality-of-communication-dominant, information-handling architecture structure comprising

a first information-handling level, including plural information-handling families organized into plural groups of said familes, and into plural collections of said groups, with each family in each group including at least two communication units and an associated communication center for communicating via a first level communication bus, directly on said first level, only with its family-associated units and with the communication centers in the other families in the same group, thus to enable broadcast communication, and simultaneous cooperative information handling, between different, respective, selected units in the families in the group,

independently for each of said collections, a second, higher-level, information-handling level, including means operatively communicative directly with said communication centers in the families in the groups in the associated collection for enabling the selective broadcast communication of information between different centers in the different groups via a second level communication bus, thus to accommodate broadcast communication, and simultaneous cooperative information handling, between selected units in the families in the different groups in the collection, and

yet another, even higher-level, information-handling level, including means operatively communicative directly with all of said communication centers in all of said collections for enabling the selective broadcast communication of information between different centers in the different collections via a higher-level communication bus, thus to accommodate broadcsat communications, and simultaneous cooperative information handling, between selected units in the collections.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein each communication unit comprises a virtual (connection) node, and each communication center comprises a physical (computational) node.

7. The structure of claims 5 or 6, wherein each communication unit, in conjunction with its family'"'"'s communication center, is assigned a bit address, and the same communicates with other communication units through a procedure which includes broadcasting of such address.

8. The structure of claims 5 or 6, wherein certain families operatively reside in more than one group.

9. A neural-model, broadcast-hierarchical, locality-of-communication-dominant, information-handling method which is implementable by an information-handling architecture structure that includes plural communication units, said method comprising

establishing a first information-handling level including plural neighborhoods of such units,

creating a communication discourse on a first-level communication bus between selected units on such first level alone, whereby a unit in a given neighborhood is able to communicate only with a neighboring unit,

establishing at least a second, higher-level communicating level which is effective operatively to link each neighborhood with at least one other neighborhood, and

enabling on such second level a communication discourse on a second-level communication bus between a unit in a given neighborhood with at least one unit in a linked neighborhood.

10. The method of claim 9, which further includes associating a bit addess with each such unit, and promoting communication from the unit through a procedure including broadcasting of such associated address.

11. The method of claims 9 or 10, wherein said establishing of such second level creates plural, second-level-independent provinces of linked neighborhoods, and which further includes establishing yet another, even higher-level, information-handling level which is effective operatively to link each such independent province via a higher-level communication bus with at least one other independent province, thus to enable, on such other level, a communication discourse between a unit in a given province with at least one unit in a linked province.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein communication between a given unit and any other units via such levels is enabled simultaneously, and is independent of any other like communication by another unit.