From: lvq@cochlea.hut.fi (LVQ_PAK)
Subject: Release of Self-Organizing Maps PD program package
Reply-To: lvq@cochlea.hut.fi
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Distribution: sfnet
Date: 12 Oct 92 08:27:15

************************************************************************
*                                                                      *
*                              SOM_PAK                                 *
*                                                                      *
*                                The                                   *
*                                                                      *
*                        Self-Organizing Map                           *
*                                                                      *
*                          Program  Package                            *
*                                                                      *
*                   Version 1.0 (October 9, 1992)                      *
*                                                                      *
*                          Prepared by the                             *
*                    SOM Programming Team of the                       *
*                 Helsinki University of Technology                    *
*           Laboratory of Computer and Information Science             *
*                Rakentajanaukio 2 C, SF-02150 Espoo                   *
*                              FINLAND                                 *
*                                                                      *
*                         Copyright (c) 1992                           *
*                                                                      *
************************************************************************

Some time ago we released the software package "LVQ_PAK" for
the easy application of Learning Vector Quantization algorithms.
Corresponding public-domain programs for the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) 
algorithms are now available via anonymous FTP on the Internet. 

"What does the Self-Organizing Map mean?", you may ask --- See the
following reference, then: Teuvo Kohonen. The self-organizing map.
Proceedings of the IEEE,  78(9):1464-1480, 1990.

In short, Self-Organizing Map (SOM) defines a 'non-linear projection'
of the probability density function of the high-dimensional input data
onto the two-dimensional display. SOM places a number of reference
vectors into an input data space to approximate to its data set in an
ordered fashion.

This package contains all the programs necessary for the application
of Self-Organizing Map algorithms in an arbitrary complex data
visualization task.  

This code is distributed without charge on an "as is" basis.
There is no warranty of any kind by the authors or by Helsinki
University of Technology.

In the implementation of the SOM programs we have tried to use as
simple code as possible. Therefore the programs are supposed to
compile in various machines without any specific modifications made on
the code. All programs have been written in ANSI C. The programs are 
available in two archive formats, one for the UNIX-environment, the
other for MS-DOS. Both archives contain exactly the same files. 

These files can be accessed via FTP as follows:

1. Create an FTP connection from wherever you are to machine
   "cochlea.hut.fi". The internet address of this machine is 
   130.233.168.48, for those who need it.

2. Log in as user "anonymous" with your own e-mail address as password.  

3. Change remote directory to "/pub/som_pak". 

4. At this point FTP should be able to get a listing of files in this
   directory with DIR and fetch the ones you want with GET. (The exact 
   FTP commands you use depend on your local FTP program.) Remember 
   to use the binary transfer mode for compressed files.

The som_pak program package includes the following files:

  - Documentation:
      README             short description of the package 
                         and installation instructions
      som_doc.ps         documentation in (c) PostScript format
      som_doc.ps.Z       same as above but compressed
      som_doc.txt        documentation in ASCII format

  - Source file archives (which contain the documentation, too):
      som_p1r0.exe       Self-extracting MS-DOS archive file
      som_pak-1.0.tar    UNIX tape archive file
      som_pak-1.0.tar.Z  same as above but compressed


An example of FTP access is given below

unix> ftp cochlea.hut.fi (or 130.233.168.48)
Name: anonymous
Password: <your email address>
ftp> cd /pub/som_pak
ftp> binary
ftp> get som_pak-1.0.tar.Z
ftp> quit
unix> uncompress som_pak-1.0.tar.Z
unix> tar xvfo som_pak-1.0.tar

See file README for further installation instructions.

All comments concerning this package should be
addressed to som@cochlea.hut.fi.

************************************************************************