Multiplier-free feedforward networks

A feedforward network is proposed which lends itself to cost-effective implementations in digital hardware and has a fast forward-pass capability. It differs from the conventional model in restricting its synapses to the set {-1, 0, 1} while allowing unrestricted offsets. Simulation results on the 'onset of diabetes' data set and a handwritten numeral recognition database indicate that the new network, despite having strong constraints on its synapses, has a generalization performance similar to that of its conventional counterpart.