The plasma automata network (PAN) architecture

Conventional neural networks consist of processing elements which are interconnected according to a specified topology. Typically, the number of processing elements and the interconnection topology are fixed. A neural network's information processing capability lies mainly in the variability of interconnection strengths, which directly influence activation patterns; these patterns represent entities and their interrelationships. Contrast this architecture, with its fixed topology and variable interconnection strengths, against one having dynamic topology and fixed connection strength. This paper reports on this proposed architecture in which there are no connections between processing elements. Instead, the processing elements form a plasma, exchanging information upon collision. A plasma can be populated with several different types of processing elements, each with their won activation function and self-modification mechanism. The activation patterns that are the plasma;s response to stimulation drive natural selection among processing elements which evolve to optimize performance