Generating Explicit Self-Organizing Maps by Information Maximization

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new information theoretic method for self-organizing maps. In realizing competition, neither the winner-all-take algorithm nor lateral inhibition is used. Instead, the new method is based upon mutual information maximization between input patterns and competitive units. Thus, competition processes are flexibly controlled to produce explicit self-organizing maps. We applied our method to a road classification problem. Experimental results confirmed that the new method could produce more explicit self-organizing maps than conventional self-organizing methods.