********************************************************************** SNNS (Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator) Version 2.1 available ********************************************************************** SNNS (Stuttgart Neural Network Simulator) is a software simulator for neural networks on Unix workstations developed at the Institute for Parallel and Distributed High Performance Systems (IPVR) at the University of Stuttgart. The goal of the SNNS project is to create an efficient and flexible simulation environment for research on and application of neural nets. The SNNS simulator consists of two main components: 1) simultor kernel written in C 2) graphical user interface under X11R4 or X11R5 The simulator kernel operates on the internal network data structures of the neural nets and performs all operations of learning and recall. It can also be used without the other parts as a C program embedded in custom applications. It supports arbitrary network topologies and, like RCS, supports the concept of sites. SNNS can be extended by the user with user defined activation functions, output functions, site functions and learning procedures, which are written as simple C programs and linked to the simulator kernel. Currently the following learning procedures are included: * backpropagation vanilla (online) BP BP with momentum term and flat spot elimination batch BP * counterpropagation, * quickprop * backpercolation 1 * generalized radial basis functions (RBF) Later versions will include recurrent Elman networks, ART1, ARTMAP, ART2, time delay networks (TDNN) and some other network paradigms. The graphical user interface XGUI (X Graphical User Interface), built on top of the kernel, gives a 2D and a 3D graphical representation of the neural networks and controls the kernel during the simulation run. In addition, the 2D user interface has an integrated network editor which can be used to directly create, manipulate and visualize neural nets in various ways. ********************************************************************** New features of SNNSv2.1 ********************************************************************** Version 2.1 of SNNS features the following improvements and extensions over the earlier version 2.0: * fixes for a number of bugs in the software and documentation * improved font selection for easier installation * graphical representation of learning error development * improved and documented batch training and testing * inversion method as network analyzing tool for feedforward networks * improved file selection mechanism * improved display color selection * inclusion of a comprehensive radial basis functions package * postscript output of displayed networks * result file generation * standalone network result analyzing tools * weight display with hinton diagramms * graphical representation of unit activation and output functions * parallel kernel for MasPar MP-1 systems (completed but not publicly available yet) * more initialization, activation, update, and learning functions * changed calculation of network error during training (factor 1/2 omitted in calculating the cumulative error) * new and improved manual ********************************************************************** Machine architectures on which SNNSv2.1 is available ********************************************************************** We have tested SNNSv2.1 on the following machines and operating systems: machine type OS user interface with SUN Sparc SLC, ELC, SS2 GX, GS SunOS 4.1.1 X11R4, X11R5, OW 3.0 DECstation 2100,3100, 5000/200 Ultrix V4.2 X11R4, X11R5 IBM RS 6000/320, 320H AIX V3.1 X11R4, X11R5 HP 9000/720, 730 HP/UX 8.0.7 X11R4, X11R5 IBM-PC 80386, 80486 Unix X11R4, X11R5 The current distribution supports color or B/W Sun 4 (Sparc) systems and DecStations under the original X11R4 or X11R5 (Athena widget set, twm, MIT fonts) or Sun OpenWindows 3.0, IBM RS/6000 systems with AIX and HP 9000/7xx systems with HP/UX 8.0.7 and HP VUE and 386 or 486 IBM-PC clones under Unix (e.g. Linux) and X11R4 or X11R5. ********************************************************************** SNNSv2.1 licensing terms (short) ********************************************************************** SNNSv2.1 is available NOW free of charge for research purposes under a GNU-style copyright agreement. See the license agreement in the user manual and in the file Readme.license of the distribution for details. SNNS is (C) Copyright Universitaet Stuttgart, IPVR. SNNSv2.1 can only be obtained by anonymous ftp over the Internet. See the detailed description of how to obtain SNNS below. We don't have the time and capacity to send tapes or floppy disks, so don't ask. SNNSv2.1 is also too large to be mailed by e-mail, so don't ask for that, either. You may, however, obtain the unmodified SNNSv2.1 distribution from other sites which already have obtained it, under the terms of our license agreement, if you are unable to connect to our machine. Note that SNNS has not been tested extensively in different computer environments and is a research tool with frequent substantial changes. It should be obvious that WE DO NOT GUARANTEE ANYTHING. We are also not staffed to answer problems with SNNS or to fix bugs quickly. ********************************************************************** How to obtain SNNSv2.1 ********************************************************************** The SNNS simulator can be obtained via anonymous ftp from host ifi.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de (129.69.211.1) in the subdirectory /pub/SNNS as file SNNSv2.1.tar.Z (0.826 MB) or in several parts as files SNNSv2.1.tar.Z.aa ... SNNSv2.1.tar.Z.ae These split files are each less than 300 KB and can be joined with the Unix `cat' command into one file SNNSv2.1.tar.Z . Be sure to set the ftp mode to binary before transmission of the files. Also watch out for possible higher version numbers, patches or Readme files in the above directory /pub/SNNS . After successful transmission of the file move it to the directory where you want to install SNNS, uncompress and extract the file with the Unix commands uncompress SNNSv2.1.tar.Z tar -xvf SNNSv2.1.tar The SNNS distribution includes full source code, installation procedures for supported machine architectures and some simple examples of trained networks. The PostScript version of the user manual can be obtained as file SNNSv2.1.Manual.ps.Z (1.04 MB) or in several parts as files SNNSv2.1.Manual.ps.Z.aa ... SNNSv2.1.Manual.ps.Z.ae These must be concatenated with 'cat', uncompressed and the resulting file should then print on any PostScript printer with enough memory. Again remember to set the ftp mode to binary before transmission of the file(s). The full English documentation as LaTeX source code with PostScript images included can be found as file SNNSv2.1.Manual.src.tar.Z (1.07 MB) A printed version of the manual of SNNSv2.1 is available from us at the cost of printing and postage (DM 20.- in Europe, US $ 20.- overseas, this includes surface mail postage). ====================================================================== Dr. Andreas Zell zell@informatik.uni-stuttgart.de Univ. Stuttgart, IPVR, Breitwiesenstr. 20-22, D-7000 Stuttgart 80, FRG ======================================================================