Stefan Ortmann

Support vector approaches for engine knock detection

We show the application of large margin classifiers to the real world problem of engine knock detection. Large margin classifiers, like support vector machines (SVM) or the Adatron, promise a good generalization performance. Furthermore, the support vector approach has some bounds (e.g. for generalization error and learning convergence) which give this technique a more firm background than the neural network leaning algorithms. One drawback of the SVM, especially the Adatron, is that they tend to produce classification systems which need large computational effort for recall. This is caused by the fact that support vectors are normally sparse, but their number of calls is high. Therefore, we propose here a method which prunes (removes) support vectors that are less important. By an adjustment of the training data and remaining steps of the classifier a performance degradation is avoided.

Accelerated training of support vector machines

This paper introduces two methods to reduce the training time of large scale support vector machines (SVMs). To optimize a SVM a quadratic optimization problem has to be solved. For large scale applications with many training vectors this can only be done by splitting the data set into smaller pieces called chunks. The chunking algorithms normally start with a random subset. In this paper we propose two methods that can to find a better than a random starting subset, and therefore accelerate the optimization process. They both estimate which training vectors are likely to be support vectors in the final SVM. In the input space this is difficult to determine, because the decision surface can have an (nearly) arbitrary shape. Therefore, this is done in the high dimensional projected space of the SVM.

Rapid prototyping of a co-processor based engine knock detection system

Rapid prototyping advances to a key validation instrument in recent embedded system designs, especially automotive applications, impose stringent cost and timing constraints on the system designer. We present the prototype generation of a combustion engine knock detection system composed of a main engine control unit and the co-processor FILU with add-on DSP capabilities. We demonstrate that the employment of our prototyping environment REPLICA (Real time Execution Platform for Intermodule Communication Architectures) will provide a smooth prototype migration throughout the whole design process.

Development and implementation of a neural knock detector using constructive learning methods

The world-wide demands for reasonable fuel consumption and reduced engine emissions force engine developers to improve the combustion process. Automobile makers are expecting to meet these demands ...

On the variance reduction of neural networks-experimental results for an automotive application

We show the results of an empirical comparison using neural network learning methods which reduce the estimation variance by combining the outputs of individual networks. These network topologies are also known as committee or ensemble of networks. Alternatively, we examine constructive networks which adapt their internal complexity, reducing the overfitting problem automatically. Both classes of networks have been compared within the framework of an engine knock detection system taking into account the generalization performance, the network size and the needed computational load for the training procedure.

Advanced hardware and software architectures for computational intelligence-application to a real world problem

Computational intelligence and its applications have been under dynamic development in the last years. The research areas as fuzzy logic, neural networks or evolutionary computation have demonstrated their power on a large amount of problems, e.g. in pattern recognition, system control, system diagnosis, and intelligent signal processing. We give a short review of the developments in this area over the last years. We show here that a developer of dedicated hardware should be aware of the problems in developing specialized hardware for computational intelligence, i.e. he has to compete with mainstream microcomputer implementations of the same techniques. Furthermore we point out some directions for promising research and possibilities for system improvements, especially in the area of neural network algorithm and system research.