How can we decipher the hidden structure of a network based on limited observations? This question arises in many scenarios ranging from social to wireless and to neural networks. In such settings, we typically observe the nodes' behaviors (e.g., the time a node learns about a piece of information, or the time a node gets infected by a disease), and we are interested in inferring the true network over which the diffusion takes place. In this paper, we consider this problem over a neural network where our aim is to reconstruct the connectivity between neurons merely by observing their firing activity. We develop an iterative NEUral INFerence algorithm (NeuInf) to identify the type of effective neural connections (i.e. excitatory/inhibitory) based on the Perceptron learning rule. We provide theoretical bounds on the average performance of NEUINF as well as numerical analysis to compare the performance of the proposed approach to previous art.

LDPC codes are typically decoded by running a synchronous message passing algorithm over the corresponding bipartite factor graph (made of variable and check nodes). More specifically, each synchronous round consists of 1) updating all variable nodes based on the information received from the check nodes in the previous round, and then 2) updating all the check nodes based on the information sent from variable nodes in the current round. However, in many applications, ranging from message passing in neural networks to hardware implementation of LDPC codes, assuming that all messages are sent and received at the same time is far from realistic. In this paper, we investigate the effect of asynchronous message passing on the decoding of LDPC codes over a Binary Erasure Channel (BEC). We effectively assume that there is a random delay assigned to each edge of the factor graph that models the random propagation delay of a message along the edge. As a result, the output messages of a check/variable node are also asynchronously updated upon arrival of a new message in its input. We show, for the first time for BEC, that the asymptotic performance of the asynchronous message passing is fully characterized by a fixed point integral equation that takes into account both the temporal and the spatial features of the factor graph. Our theoretical result is reminiscent of the fixed point equation in traditional BP decoding. Also, our simulation results show that asynchronous scheduling reduces decoding time compared to the traditional BP in certain cases in the finite block-length regime.

Recent advances in associative memory design through structured pattern sets and graph-based inference algorithms have allowed reliable learning and recall of an exponential number of patterns that satisfy certain subspace constraints. Although these designs correct external errors in recall, they assume neurons that compute noiselessly, in contrast to the highly variable neurons in brain regions thought to operate associatively, such as hippocampus and olfactory cortex. Here we consider associative memories with boundedly noisy internal computations and analytically characterize performance. As long as the internal noise level is below a specified threshold, the error probability in the recall phase can be made exceedingly small. More surprising, we show that internal noise improves the performance of the recall phase while the pattern retrieval capacity remains intact: the number of stored patterns does not reduce with noise (up to a threshold). Computational experiments lend additional support to our theoretical analysis. This work suggests a functional benefit to noisy neurons in biological neuronal networks.

We consider the problem of neural association for a network of nonbinary neurons. Here, the task is to first memorize a set of patterns using a network of neurons whose states assume values from a finite number of integer levels. Later, the same network should be able to recall the previously memorized patterns from their noisy versions. Prior work in this area consider storing a finite number of purely random patterns, and have shown that the pattern retrieval capacities (maximum number of patterns that can be memorized) scale only linearly with the number of neurons in the network. In our formulation of the problem, we concentrate on exploiting redundancy and internal structure of the patterns to improve the pattern retrieval capacity. Our first result shows that if the given patterns have a suitable linear-algebraic structure, i.e., comprise a subspace of the set of all possible patterns, then the pattern retrieval capacity is exponential in terms of the number of neurons. The second result extends the previous finding to cases where the patterns have weak minor components, i.e., the smallest eigenvalues of the correlation matrix tend toward zero. We will use these minor components (or the basis vectors of the pattern null space) to increase both the pattern retrieval capacity and error correction capabilities. An iterative algorithm is proposed for the learning phase, and two simple algorithms are presented for the recall phase. Using analytical methods and simulations, we show that the proposed methods can tolerate a fair amount of errors in the input while being able to memorize an exponentially large number of patterns.

The task of a neural associative memory is to retrieve a set of previously memorized patterns from their noisy versions by using a network of neurons. Hence, an ideal network should be able to 1) gradually learn a set of patterns, 2) retrieve the correct pattern from noisy queries and 3) maximize the number of memorized patterns while maintaining the reliability in responding to queries. We show that by considering the inherent redundancy in the memorized patterns, one can obtain all the mentioned properties at once. This is in sharp contrast with the previous work that could only improve one or two aspects at the expense of the third. More specifically, we devise an iterative algorithm that learns the redundancy among the patterns. The resulting network has a retrieval capacity that is exponential in the size of the network. Lastly, by considering the local structures of the network, the asymptotic error correction performance can be made linear in the size of the network.

We propose a novel architecture to design a neural associative memory that is capable of learning a large number of patterns and recalling them later in presence of noise. It is based on dividing the neurons into local clusters and parallel plains, an architecture that is similar to the visual cortex of macaque brain. The common features of our proposed model with those of spatially-coupled codes enable us to show that the performance of such networks in eliminating noise is drastically better than the previous approaches while maintaining the ability of learning an exponentially large number of patterns. Previous work either failed in providing good performance during the recall phase or in offering large pattern retrieval (storage) capacities. We also present computational experiments that lend additional support to the theoretical analysis.

Recent advances in associative memory design through structured pattern sets and graph-based inference algorithms have allowed reliable learning and recall of an exponential number of patterns. Although these designs correct external errors in recall, they assume neurons that compute noiselessly, in contrast to the highly variable neurons in hippocampus and olfactory cortex. Here we consider associative memories with noisy internal computations and analytically characterize performance. As long as the internal noise level is below a specified threshold, the error probability in the recall phase can be made exceedingly small. More surprisingly, we show that internal noise actually improves the performance of the recall phase. Computational experiments lend additional support to our theoretical analysis. This work suggests a functional benefit to noisy neurons in biological neuronal networks.

The problem of neural network association is to retrieve a previously memorized pattern from its noisy version using a network of neurons. An ideal neural network should include three components simultaneously: a learning algorithm, a large pattern retrieval capacity and resilience against noise. Prior works in this area usually improve one or two aspects at the cost of the third. Our work takes a step forward in closing this gap. More specifically, we show that by forcing natural constraints on the set of learning patterns, we can drastically improve the retrieval capacity of our neural network. Moreover, we devise a learning algorithm whose role is to learn those patterns satisfying the above mentioned constraints. Finally we show that our neural network can cope with a fair amount of noise.

We consider the problem of neural association, which deals with the retrieval of a previously memorized pattern from its noisy version. The performance of various neural networks developed for this task may be judged in terms of their pattern retrieval capacities (the number of patterns that can be stored), and their error-correction (noise tolerance) capabilities. While significant progress has been made, most prior works in this area show poor performance with regard to pattern retrieval capacity and/or error correction. In this paper, we propose two new methods to significantly increase the pattern retrieval capacity of the Hopfield and Bidirectional Associative Memories (BAM). The main idea is to store patterns drawn from a family of low correlation sequences, similar to those used in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) communications, instead of storing purely random patterns as in prior works. These low correlation patterns can be obtained from random sequences by pre-coding the original sequences via simple operations that both real and artificial neurons are capable of accomplishing.

We consider the problem of neural association for a network of non-binary neurons. Here, the task is to recall a previously memorized pattern from its noisy version using a network of neurons whose states assume values from a finite number of non-negative integer levels. Prior works in this area consider storing a finite number of purely random patterns, and have shown that the pattern retrieval capacities (maximum number of patterns that can be memorized) scale only linearly with the number of neurons in the network. In our formulation of the problem, we consider storing patterns from a suitably chosen set of patterns, that are obtained by enforcing a set of simple constraints on the coordinates (such as those enforced in graph based codes). Such patterns may be generated from purely random information symbols by simple neural operations. Two simple neural update algorithms are presented, and it is shown that our proposed mechanisms result in a pattern retrieval capacity that is exponential in terms of the network size. Furthermore, using analytical results and simulations, we show that the suggested methods can tolerate a fair amount of errors in the input.

In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for rate allocation in multiple-source media streaming peer to peer networks. Our algorithm is based on ant-colony optimization and capable of handling network changes which occur quite often in unstructured P2P networks. The suggested algorithm does not need any information about the topology of the network. Moreover, it could get over uncertainties in network state information, particularly the rate of media provider nodes that could happen due to lack of accurate measurements. We show that our algorithm will reach the maximum achievable rate of the network quite fast and with relatively little overhead. In our simulations, we have demonstrated that in cases where network state information is inaccurate, the suggested ant-based rate allocation method will lead to the same results that other optimization-based rate allocation algorithms yield. Moreover, we have shown that the proposed algorithm has an intrinsic low pass filter which discriminate between transient network changes from permanent ones. If the changes in the network is transient, the algorithm compensate the temporary losses quite fast and without much effort. In cases where the network changes last longer, the algorithm overcomes losses by employing other nodes that have the media stream available. The rate of adaptation is adjustable and must be carefully determined according to network conditions.