Optimization of CNN through Novel Training Strategy for Visual Classification Problems

• Main Authors: Sadaqat ur Rehman, Shanshan Tu, Obaid ur Rehman, Yongfeng Huang, Chathura M. Sarathchandra Magurawalage, Chin-Chen Chang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-04-01
• Series: Entropy
• Subjects: CNN optimization; image classification; MRPROP; training algorithm
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/20/4/290

The convolution neural network (CNN) has achieved state-of-the-art performance in many computer vision applications e.g., classification, recognition, detection, etc. However, the global optimization of CNN training is still a problem. Fast classification and training play a key role in the development of the CNN. We hypothesize that the smoother and optimized the training of a CNN goes, the more efficient the end result becomes. Therefore, in this paper, we implement a modified resilient backpropagation (MRPROP) algorithm to improve the convergence and efficiency of CNN training. Particularly, a tolerant band is introduced to avoid network overtraining, which is incorporated with the global best concept for weight updating criteria to allow the training algorithm of the CNN to optimize its weights more swiftly and precisely. For comparison, we present and analyze four different training algorithms for CNN along with MRPROP, i.e., resilient backpropagation (RPROP), Levenberg–Marquardt (LM), conjugate gradient (CG), and gradient descent with momentum (GDM). Experimental results showcase the merit of the proposed approach on a public face and skin dataset.