A Parallel Implementation of a Growing SOM Promoting Independent Neural Networks over Distributed Input Space

Self-organizing maps can discover topological and multidimensional patterns using a variety of methods. We apply a parallel algorithm proposed by the authors (ParaSOM), which yields closer and denser approximations than other methods in a fraction of iterations, to a two-dimensional pattern in a parallel environment to demonstrate a high degree of neuron independence. In a second implementation, pieces of a two-dimensional input space are distributed over a network and processed by independent ParaSOM algorithms.