Enhancing Weak Signal Transmission Through a Feedforward Network

The ability to transmit and amplify weak signals is fundamental to signal processing of artificial devices in engineering. Using a multilayer feedforward network of coupled double-well oscillators as well as Fitzhugh-Nagumo oscillators, we here investigate the conditions under which a weak signal received by the first layer can be transmitted through the network with or without amplitude attenuation. We find that the coupling strength and the nodes´ states of the first layer act as two-state switches, which determine whether the transmission is significantly enhanced or exponentially decreased. We hope this finding is useful for designing artificial signal amplifiers.