A proposal of “neuron mask” in neural network algorithm for combinatorial optimization problems

A constraint resolution scheme of the Hopfield neural network named “neuron mask” is presented for a class of combinatorial optimization problems. Neuron mask always satisfies constraints of selecting a solution candidate from each group so as to force the state of the neural network into a solution space. This paper presents the definition of neuron mask and the introduction into the neural network through the N-queens problem. The performance is verified by simulations on three computation modes, where neuron mask improves the performance of the neural network