A new realization of the Conscience Mechanism for self-organizing neural networks implemented in CMOS technology

The paper presents a simple current-mode conscience mechanism used in hardware implemented Winner Takes All neural networks to eliminate the prob- lem of the, so called, dead neurons. These neurons reduce the number of data classes that can be distin- guished by the NN, i.e. they decrease the efficiency of the NN. The circuit has been realized in the TSMC CMOS 0.18 m process. At data rate of about 10 Msam- ples/s it dissipates the power of 20 W.