Multilayer neural networks with backpropagation learning algorithm are widely used for pattern classification problems. For many real applications, it is more important to reduce the misclassification rate than to increase the rate of successful class...
Multilayer neural networks with backpropagation learning algorithm are widely used for pattern classification problems. For many real applications, it is more important to reduce the misclassification rate than to increase the rate of successful classification. But multilayer perceptrons(MLP's) have drawbacks of slow learning speed and false convergence to local minima. In this paper, we propose a new method for character recognition problems with a single-layer network and double rejection mechanisms, which guarantees a very low misclassification rate. Comparing to the MLP's, it yields fast learning and requires a simple hardware architecture. We also introduce a new coding scheme to reduce the misclassification rate. We have prepared two databases: one with 135,000 digit patterns and the other with 117,000 letter patterns, and have applied the proposed method for printed character recognition, which shows that the method reduces the misclassification rate significantly without sacrificing the correct recognition rate.