6.2 BASIC CONCEPTS OF NEURAL NETWORKS: ARCHITECTURE
Ultimately, the architecture of a neural network model is driven by the task it is intended to address.
For instance, neural network models have been used as classifiers, as forecasting tools, and as general optimizers.
As shown later in this chapter, neural network classifiers are typically multilayer models in which information is passed from one layer to the next, with the ultimate goal of mapping an input to the network to a specific category, as identified by an output of the network.
A neural model used as an optimizer, in contrast, can be a single layer of neurons, highly interconnected, and can compute neuron values iteratively until the model converges to a stable state.
This stable state represents an optimal solution to the problem under analysis.