Patent attributes
A device, system, and method is provided for training or prediction using a cluster-connected neural network. The cluster-connected neural network may be divided into a plurality of clusters of artificial neurons connected by weights or convolutional channels connected by convolutional filters. Within each cluster is a locally dense sub-network of intra-cluster weights or filters with a majority of pairs of neurons or channels connected by intra-cluster weights or filters that are co-activated together as an activation block during training or prediction. Outside each cluster is a globally sparse network of inter-cluster weights or filters with a minority of pairs of neurons or channels separated by a cluster border across different clusters connected by inter-cluster weights or filters. Training or predicting is performed using the cluster-connected neural network.