Most modern convolutional neural networks (CNNs) used for object recognition are built using the same principles: Alternating convolution and max-pooling layers followed by a small number of fully connected layers. We re-evaluate the state of the art for object recognition from small images with convolutional networks, questioning the necessity of different components in the pipeline. We find that max-pooling can simply be replaced by a convolutional layer with increased stride without loss in accuracy on several image recognition benchmarks. Following this finding -and building on other recent work for finding simple network structures -we propose a new architecture that consists solely of convolutional layers and yields competitive or state of the art performance on several object recognition datasets ImageNet). To analyze the network we introduce a new variant of the "deconvolution approach" for visualizing features learned by CNNs, which can be applied to a broader range of network structures than existing approaches.
Recently, Springenberg et al. REF were devoted to pursuing simpler CNN architectures and questioned the necessity of different components in the canonical pipeline.
Striving for Simplicity: The All Convolutional Net
ICLR 2015
arXiv: Learning
Computer Science Mathematics