Kathy Lüdge

Enrico Picco, Lina Jaurigue, Kathy Lüdge et al.

We present an experimental validation of a recently proposed optimization technique for reservoir computing, using an optoelectronic setup. Reservoir computing is a robust framework for signal processing applications, and the development of efficient optimization approaches remains a key challenge. The technique we address leverages solely a delayed version of the input signal to identify the optimal operational region of the reservoir, simplifying the traditionally time-consuming task of hyperparameter tuning. We verify the effectiveness of this approach on different benchmark tasks and reservoir operating conditions.

Felix Köster, Serhiy Yanchuk, Kathy Lüdge

We show that many delay-based reservoir computers considered in the literature can be characterized by a universal master memory function (MMF). Once computed for two independent parameters, this function provides linear memory capacity for any delay-based single-variable reservoir with small inputs. Moreover, we propose an analytical description of the MMF that enables its efficient and fast computation. Our approach can be applied not only to reservoirs governed by known dynamical rules such as Mackey-Glass or Ikeda-like systems but also to reservoirs whose dynamical model is not available. We also present results comparing the performance of the reservoir computer and the memory capacity given by the MMF.

Felix Köster, Serhiy Yanchuk, Kathy Lüdge

In this paper we give a profound insight into the computation capability of delay-based reservoir computing via an eigenvalue analysis. We concentrate on the task-independent memory capacity to quantify the reservoir performance and compare these with the eigenvalue spectrum of the dynamical system. We show that these two quantities are deeply connected, and thus the reservoir computing performance is predictable by analyzing the small signal response of the reservoir. Our results suggest that any dynamical system used as a reservoir can be analyzed in this way. We apply our method exemplarily to a photonic laser system with feedback and compare the numerically computed recall capabilities with the eigenvalue spectrum. Optimal performance is found for a system with the eigenvalues having real parts close to zero and off-resonant imaginary parts.

Felix Köster, Dominik Ehlert, Kathy Lüdge

We analyze the memory capacity of a delay based reservoir computer with a Hopf normal form as nonlinearity and numerically compute the linear as well as the higher order recall capabilities. A possible physical realisation could be a laser with external cavity, for which the information is fed via electrical injection. A task independent quantification of the computational capability of the reservoir system is done via a complete orthonormal set of basis functions. Our results suggest that even for constant readout dimension the total memory capacity is dependent on the ratio between the information input period, also called the clock cycle, and the time delay in the system. Optimal performance is found for a time delay about 1.6 times the clock cycle

Mirko Goldmann, Felix Köster, Kathy Lüdge et al.

The Deep Time-Delay Reservoir Computing concept utilizes unidirectionally connected systems with time-delays for supervised learning. We present how the dynamical properties of a deep Ikeda-based reservoir are related to its memory capacity (MC) and how that can be used for optimization. In particular, we analyze bifurcations of the corresponding autonomous system and compute conditional Lyapunov exponents, which measure the generalized synchronization between the input and the layer dynamics. We show how the MC is related to the systems distance to bifurcations or magnitude of the conditional Lyapunov exponent. The interplay of different dynamical regimes leads to a adjustable distribution between linear and nonlinear MC. Furthermore, numerical simulations show resonances between clock cycle and delays of the layers in all degrees of the MC. Contrary to MC losses in a single-layer reservoirs, these resonances can boost separate degrees of the MC and can be used, e.g., to design a system with maximum linear MC. Accordingly, we present two configurations that empower either high nonlinear MC or long time linear MC.

Florian Stelzer, André Röhm, Kathy Lüdge et al.

The time-delay-based reservoir computing setup has seen tremendous success in both experiment and simulation. It allows for the construction of large neuromorphic computing systems with only few components. However, until now the interplay of the different timescales has not been investigated thoroughly. In this manuscript, we investigate the effects of a mismatch between the time-delay and the clock cycle for a general model. Typically, these two time scales are considered to be equal. Here we show that the case of equal or resonant time-delay and clock cycle could be actively detrimental and leads to an increase of the approximation error of the reservoir. In particular, we can show that non-resonant ratios of these time scales have maximal memory capacities. We achieve this by translating the periodically driven delay-dynamical system into an equivalent network. Networks that originate from a system with resonant delay-times and clock cycles fail to utilize all of their degrees of freedom, which causes the degradation of their performance.

André Röhm, Kathy Lüdge

The reservoir computing scheme is a machine learning mechanism which utilizes the naturally occuring computational capabilities of dynamical systems. One important subset of systems that has proven powerful both in experiments and theory are delay-systems. In this work, we investigate the reservoir computing performance of hybrid network-delay systems systematically by evaluating the NARMA10 and the Sante Fe task.. We construct 'multiplexed networks' that can be seen as intermediate steps on the scale from classical networks to the 'virtual networks' of delay systems. We find that the delay approach can be extended to the network case without loss of computational power, enabling the construction of faster reservoir computing substrates.