title: Constructing optimized binary masks for reservoir computing with delay systems.
abstract: Reservoir computing is a novel bio-inspired computing method, capable of solving complex tasks in a computationally efficient way. It has recently been successfully implemented using delayed feedback systems, allowing to reduce the hardware complexity of brain-inspired computers drastically. In this approach, the pre-processing procedure relies on the definition of a temporal mask which serves as a scaled time-mutiplexing of the input. Originally, random masks had been chosen, motivated by the random connectivity in reservoirs. This random generation can sometimes fail. Moreover, for hardware implementations random generation is not ideal due to its complexity and the requirement for trial and error. We outline a procedure to reliably construct an optimal mask pattern in terms of multipurpose performance, derived from the concept of maximum length sequences. Not only does this ensure the creation of the shortest possible mask that leads to maximum variability in the reservoir states for the given reservoir, it also allows for an interpretation of the statistical significance of the provided training samples for the task at hand.
authors.affiliation: 1] Applied Physics Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Elsene, Belgium [2] Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC-CSIC), Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Lennert
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Appeltant
authors.affiliation: Applied Physics Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Elsene, Belgium.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van der Sande
authors.affiliation: Applied Physics Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Elsene, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Danckaert
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (IFISC-CSIC), Campus Universitat de les Illes Balears, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Ingo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fischer