Information processing system

An information processing element comprising, in combination:

• a. a plurality (N) of input terminals 1, 2 . . . , j . . . , N adapted to receive N input signals s.sub.1, s.sub.2 . . . , s.sub.j . . . , s.sub.N, respectively;
• b. an output terminal i adapted to present an output response r.sub.i ;
• c. a plurality (N) of junction elements, called mnemonders, each mnemonder coupling one of said input terminals (input j) to said output terminal (output i) and providing a transfer of information from input j to output i in dependence upon the signal s.sub.j appearing at the input j and upon the mnemonder transfer function A.sub.ij ;
• and
• d. means for modifying the transfer function A.sub.ij of at least one of said mnemonders, when in a learning mode, in dependence upon the product of at least one of said input signals and said output response;
• whereby the modifications to the transfer function of the mnemonders, when in a learning mode, take the form:
• .epsilon.A.sub.ij = f (s.sub.1, s.sub.2 . . . , s.sub.j . . . , s.sub.N ;
• r.sub.i).

A process of using an information processing module which comprises, in combination:

• a. a plurality (N) of input terminals 1, 2 . . . , j . . . , N adapted to receive N input signals s.sub.1, s.sub.2 . . . , s.sub.j . . . , s.sub.N, respectively;
• b. a plurality (n) of output terminals 1, 2 . . . , i . . . , n adapted to present n output responses r.sub.1, r.sub.2 . . . , r.sub.i . . . , r.sub.n, respectively;
• c. a plurality of junction elements, each coupling one of said input terminals with one of said output terminals and providing a transfer of information from input j to output i in dependence upon the signal s.sub.j appearing at the input j and upon the junction element transfer function A.sub.ij, said junction elements coupling said input and output terminals in such a way that each output response r.sub.i is a function of a plurality of transfer functions A.sub.ij and a plurality of input signals s.sub.j ;
• said process comprising the steps of:
• 1. setting the transfer function A.sub.ij of each junction element to a particular desired value representing stored information;
• 2. applying at least one of said input signals s.sub.1, s.sub.2 . . . , s.sub.j . . . , s.sub.N to the respective input terminal;
• and
• 3. receiving at least one of said output responses r.sub.1, r.sub.2 . . . , r.sub.i . . . , r.sub.n at the respective output terminal, whereby said module is utilized as a distributed memory.

A method of processing information comprising the steps of:

• a. receiving a plurality of input signals s.sub.1, s.sub.2 . . . , s.sub.j . . . , s.sub.N ;
• b. producing a plurality of intermediate signals s'.sub.i1, s'.sub.i2, . . . s'.sub.ij . . . , s'.sub.iN, each s'.sub.ij of which is dependent upon a respective one of said input signals s.sub.j and an associated transfer function A.sub.ij ;
• c. producing an output response r.sub.i which is dependent upon at least one of said intermediate signals s'.sub.ij ;
• and
• d. modifying at least one of said transfer functions A.sub.ij, when in a learning mode, in dependence upon the product of at least one of said input signals s.sub.j and said output response r.sub.i.