Network Model
Input and Output Controllers
Network input controllers are responsible for relaying data to the proper nodes for processing.
Since it does not process the data, only relays it, there are only two requirements for an input controller.
- One or more input socket
- An equal number of output paths
Output controllers function exactly the same way as input controllers, but in reverse. They both are designed to make networks more portable. A network can have more than one input controller and more than one output controller.
End-User Communication
Ultimately, users will want to communicate using characters and symbols. To accomplish this, some kind of character set must be used. One could use ASCII, however all 8 bits are not necessary for this purpose. ISO developed a fairly unknown 6 bit character set. It provides english communication using the lowest number of bits possible. This is ideal because the fewer input bits you have, the easier it is to engineer the network. Below is a modified version of ISO’s 6 bit character set.
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 000 | NUL | HT | LF | VT | FF | CR | ! | ? | ( | ) | * | + | , | - | . | / |
| 020 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | : | ; | < | = | > | ‘ |
| 040 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | |
| 060 | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | [ | % | ] | ESC | DEL |
The system now needs an object responsible for interpreting character data and distributing it to the input controller. The diagram below illustrates how the input stream feeds data to the input controller by converting the character data to binary channels.
Figure 3 – Input stream working with the network input controller.
The output process works exactly the same way, but in reverse. The output stream converts the binary input to character data.
Figure 4 – Network output controller feeding signals to the output stream.
Joining Networks
Networks can be connected to other networks to work together in completing a task. This encourages neural network engineers to develop modular networks that can be integrated into much larger neural network systems.
Figure 3 – A five bit output controller connects to a five bit input controller, successfully joining two networks together.