From: arms@cs.UAlberta.CA (Bill Armstrong)
Subject: Latest adaptive logic network software via ftp
Summary: Release 2.7 of atree ALN simulator available on menaik.
Keywords: ALN, neural nets
Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 14:43:57 GMT

The atree Adaptive Logic Network Simulation Package and References

The latest release of the atree adaptive logic network (ALN)
simulation package, atree release 2.7, is available via anonymous ftp
from menaik.cs.ualberta.ca [129.128.4.241] in directory pub/ (use
binary mode).  It runs on IBM PCs and compatibles under Windows 3.x.
Included is documentation and ON-LINE HELP that will help you to
understand the basic principles of adaptive logic networks and enable
you to try out some examples of your own creation.  All C and C++
source code is provided.

The atree package is not a toy, despite the fact that it is used for
demonstration purposes, and is non-commercial.  Experimenters are
using it on challenging problems of medicine, physics and the
environment.  It has been used to grade beef based on ultrasound
images, design hardware to discriminate particles produced by an
accelerator, help to design walking prostheses for spinal cord damaged
patients and measure the composition of tarsands from spectral data.

It is possible to use inexpensive, off-the-shelf programmable logic
devices to realize the results of training ALNs in high-speed
hardware, though we do not provide those facilities in the atree
software.

We shall use release 2.7 as an example here, but please see what the
latest version number is (in case we have had to make corrections)
before you ftp the software by examining the contents of pub/.  The
software has been in use by subscribers to the alnl mailing list for
several weeks, and no problems have surfaced.  If you want to be on
the list mail to alnl-request@cs.ualberta.ca.

Atree release 2.7 is available in either of two files in this
directory: atre27.exe and a27exe.exe.  The file atre27.exe contains
the full C and C++ sources for those who want to program some
applications using Borland C++ 3.x and Application Frameworks, or some
similar C/C++ development environment.  The other, smaller file
contains just the executables for those who just want to try out atree
release 2.7.

Everyone should have a look at the OCR demo!  It has been referred to
as "quite impressive" by experts in the OCR area.  Test yourself
against the trained ALNs, and scribble in your own characters (any
language, any alphabet) to see how noisy and distorted the characters
can be, yet still be recognized by the logic networks.  The demo can
be obtained without the rest in pub/a27ocr.exe.

To set up your software on the PC under Windows 3.x, it is recommended
that you execute atre27.exe in your main directory, whereupon it will
create a subdirectory atree_27 and extract everything into it.
Running "setup" in that directory will create a group of icons you can
use to invoke demos and the facilities for programming adaptive logic
network applications in the lf language.  The "Open" command gives you
access to numerous instructive examples.  Clicking on the Help button
gives you access to explanations of theory and code.

The Unix version, atree release 2.0, will be upgraded sometime to add
some of the functionality of release 2.7.  It is not yet capable of
the nice color displays of the Windows version, but besides running on
Unix workstations it can be easily ported to Macintosh, Amiga, and
other machines.  Because of the on-line help, even those ultimately
wanting to use a Unix platform are encouraged to look at release 2.7
for Windows.

Thanks to all those who have sent comments about their work on ALNs,
and have helped us to develop new concepts at a rapid rate. We would
appreciate your continued help in finding any problems in the latest
release.

Welcome to the world of adaptive logic networks!

Bill Armstrong

	Recommended Publications on Adaptive Logic Networks

W. Armstrong, Adaptive Boolean Logic Element, U. S. Patent 3934231,
Feb. 28, 1974 (multiple filings in various countries),
assigned to Dendronic Decisions Limited.

G. v. Bochmann, W. Armstrong, Properties of Boolean Functions
with a Tree Decomposition, BIT 13, 1974. pp. 1-13.

W. Armstrong, Gilles Godbout: Use of Boolean Tree Functions to Perform
High-Speed Pattern Classification and Related Tasks, Dept. d'IRO,
Universite de Montreal, Doc. de Travail #53, 1974. (unpublished,
except in summary form as follows:)

W. Armstrong and G. Godbout, "Properties of Binary Trees
of Flexible Elements Useful in Pattern Recognition", IEEE 1975
International Conf. on Cybernetics and Society, San Francisco, 1975,
IEEE Cat. No. 75 CHO 997-7 SMC, pp. 447-449.

W. Armstrong and J. Gecsei, "Architecture of a Tree-based
Image Processor", 12th Asilomar Conf. on Circuits, Systems
and Computers, Pacific Grove, Calif., 1978, pp. 345-349.

W. Armstrong and J. Gecsei, "Adaptation Algorithms for
Binary Tree Networks", IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man and
Cybernetics, 9, 1979, pp. 276-285.

W. Armstrong, J.-D. Liang, D. Lin, S. Reynolds, Experiments Using
Parsimonious Adaptive Logic, Tech. Rept. TR 90-30, Department of
Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada,
T6G 2H1.  This is now available in a revised form via anonymous FTP
from menaik.cs.ualberta.ca [129.128.4.241] in pub/atree2.ps.Z (the
title of the revised document is "Some Results concerning Adaptive
Logic Networks").

W. Armstrong, A. Dwelly, J.-D. Liang, D. Lin, S. Reynolds, Learning
and Generalization in Adaptive Logic Networks, in Artificial Neural
Networks, Proceedings of the 1991 International Conference on
Artificial Neural Networks ( ICANN'91), Espoo,
Finland, June 24-28, 1991, T. Kohonen, K.Makisara, O. Simula, J. Kangas eds.
Elsevier Science Publishing Co. Inc. N. Y. 1991, vol. 2, pp. 1173-1176.

Allen G. Supynuk, William W. Armstrong, Adaptive Logic Networks and
Robot Control, Proc. Vision Interface Conference '92, also called
AI/VI/GI '92, Vancouver B. C., May 11-15, 1992, pp. 181 - 186.

R. B. Stein, A. Kostov, M. Belanger, W. W. Armstrong and D. B.
Popovic, Methods to Control Functional Electrical Stimulation in
Walking, First International FES Symposium, Sendai, Japan, July 23 -
25, 1992 (Invited paper, to appear).

Aleksandar Kostov, Richard B. Stein, William W. Armstrong, Monroe
Thomas, Evaluation of Adaptive Logic Networks for Control of Walking
in Paralyzed Patients, 14th Ann. Int'l Conf. IEEE Engineering in
Medicine and Biology Society, Paris, France, Oct. 29 - Nov. 1, 1992
(to appear).

In case you have difficulty in obtaining the above documents or the
atree release 2.0 software for Unix or release 2.7 for IBM-PC and
compatibles under Windows, the software and all of the above documents
prior to 1991 can be obtained from the University of Alberta for a
media fee to cover the costs of copying and mailing of $150
(Canadian), made payable to the University of Alberta.  Two 3 1/2"
diskettes are normally included but an attempt will be made to satisfy
needs for other media, e.g. tapes.  Orders can be sent c/o Professor
W. W.  Armstrong, Department of Computing Science, University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2H1.


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***************************************************
Prof. William W. Armstrong, Computing Science Dept.
University of Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2H1
arms@cs.ualberta.ca Tel(403)492 2374 FAX 492 1071