Tag Archives: convolutional layer

A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – V – about the difference of activation patterns and features

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In my last article of my introductory series on “Convolutional Neural Networks” [CNNs] I described how we can visualize the output of different maps at convolutional (or pooling) layers of a CNN.

A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – IV – Visualizing the activation output of convolutional layers and maps
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – III – inclusion of a learning-rate scheduler, momentum and a L2-regularizer
A simple CNN for the MNIST datasets – II – building the CNN with Keras and a first test
A simple CNN for the MNIST datasets – I – CNN basics

We are now well equipped to look a bit closer at the maps of a trained CNN. The output of the last convolutional layer is of course of special interest: It is fed (in the form of a flattened input vector) into the MLP-part of the CNN for a classification analysis. As an MLP detects “patterns” the question arises whether we actually can see common “patterns” in the visualized maps of different images belonging to the same class. In our case we shall have a look at the maps of different MNIST images of a handwritten “4”.

Note for my readers, 20.08.2020:
This article has recently been revised and completely rewritten. It required a much more careful description of what we mean by “patterns” and “features” – and what we can say about them when looking at images of activation outputs on higher convolutional layers. I also postponed a thorough “philosophical” argumentation against a humanized usage of the term “features” to a later article in this series.

Objectives

We saw already in the last article that the images of maps get more and more abstract when we move to higher convolutional layers – i.e. layers deeper inside a CNN. At the same time we loose resolution due to intermediate pooling operations. It is quite obvious that we cannot see much of any original “features” of a handwritten “4” any longer in a (3×3)-map, whose values are produced by a sequence of complex transformation operations.

Nevertheless people talk about “feature detection” performed by CNNs – and they refer to “features” in a very concrete and descriptive way (e.g. “eyes”, “spectacles”, “bows”). How can this be? What is the connection of abstract activation patterns in low resolution maps to original “features” of an image? What is meant when CNN experts claim that neurons of higher CNN layers are allegedly able to “detect features”?

We cannot give a full answer, yet. We still need some more Python programs tools. But, wat we are going to do in this article are three things:

  1. Objective 1: I will try to describe the assumed relation between maps and “features”. To start with I shall make a clear distinction between “feature” patterns in input images and patterns in and across the maps of convolutional layers. The rest of the discussion will remain a bit theoretical; but it will use the fact that convolutions at higher layers combine filtered results in specific ways to create new maps. For the time being we cannot do more. We shall actually look at visualizations of “features” in forthcoming articles of this series. Promised.
  2. Objective 2: We follow three different input images, each representing a “4”, as they get processed from one convolutional layer to the next convolutional layer of our CNN. We shall compare the resulting outputs of all feature maps at each convolutional layer.
  3. Objective 3: We try to identify common “patterns” for our different “4” images across the maps of the highest convolutional layer.

We shall visualize each “map” by an image – reflecting the values calculated by the CNN-filters for all points in each map. Note that an individual value at a map point results from adding up many weighted values provided by the maps of lower layers and feeding the result into an activation function. We speak of “activation” values or “map activations”. So our 2-nd objective is to follow the map activations of an input image up to the highest convolutional layer. An interesting question will be if the chain of complex transformation operations leads to visually detectable similarities across the map outputs for the different images of a “4”.

The eventual classification of a CNN is done by its embedded MLP which analyzes information collected at the last convolutional layer. Regarding this input to the MLP we can make the following statements:

The convolutions and pooling operations project information of relatively large parts of the original image into a representation space of very low dimensionality. Each map on the third layer provides a 3×3 value tensor, only. However, we combine the points of all (128) maps together in a flattened input vector to the MLP. This input vector consists of more nodes than the original image itself.

Thus the sequence of convolutional and pooling layers in the end transforms the original images into another representation space of somewhat higher dimensionality (9×128 vs. 28×28). This transformation is associated with the hope that in the new representation space a MLP may find patterns which allow for a better classification of the original images than a direct analysis of the image data. This explains objective 3: We try to play the MLPs role by literally looking at the eventual map activations. We try to find out which patterns are representative for a “4” by comparing the activations of different “4” images of the MNIST dataset.

Enumbering the layers

To distinguish a higher Convolutional [Conv] or Pooling [Pool] layer from a lower one we give them a number “Conv_N” or “Pool_N”.

Our CNN has a sequence of

  • Conv_1 (32 26×26 maps filtering the input image),
  • Pool_1 (32 13×13 maps with half the resolution due to max-pooling),
  • Conv_2 (64 11×11 maps filtering combined maps of Pool_1),
  • Pool_2 (64 5×5 maps with half the resolution due to max-pooling),
  • Conv_3 (128 3×3 maps filtering combined maps of Pool_2).

Patterns in maps?

We have seen already in the last article that the “patterns” which are displayed in a map of a higher layer Conv_N, with N ≥ 2, are rather abstract ones. The images of the maps at Conv_3 do not reflect figurative elements or geometrical patterns of the input images any more – at least not in a directly visible way. It does not help that the activations are probably triggered by some characteristic pixel patterns in the original images.

The convolutions and the pooling operation transform the original image information into more and more abstract representation spaces of shrinking dimensionality and resolution. This is due to the fact that the activation of a point in a map on a layer Conv_(N+1) results

  • from a specific combination of multiple maps of a layer Conv_N or Pool_N
  • and from a loss of resolution due to intermediate pooling.

It is not possible to directly guess in what way active points or activated areas within
a certain map at the third convolutional layer relate to or how they depend on “original and specific patterns in the input image”. If you do not believe me: Well, just look at the maps of the 3rd convolutional layer presented in the last article and tell me: What patterns in the initial image did these maps react to? Without some sophisticated numerical experiments you won’t be able to figure that out.

Patterns in the input image vs. patterns within and across maps

The above remarks indicate already that “patterns” may occur at different levels of consideration and abstraction. We talk about patterns in the input image and patterns within as well as across the maps of convolutional (or pooling) layers. To avoid confusion I already now want to make the following distinction:

  • (Original) input patterns [OIP]: When I speak of (original) “input patterns” I mean patterns or figurative elements in the input image. In more mathematical terms I mean patterns within the input image which correspond to a kind of fixed and strong correlation between the values of pixels distributed over a sufficiently well defined geometrical area with a certain shape. Examples could be line-like elements, bow segments, two connected circles or combined rectangles. But OIPs may be of a much more complex and abstract kind and consist of strange sub-features – and they may not reflect a real world entity or a combination of such entities. An OIP may reside at one or multiple locations in different input images.
  • Filter correlation patterns [FCP]: A CNN produces maps by filtering input data (Conv level 1) or by filtering maps of a lower layer and combining the results. By doing so a higher layer may detect patterns in the filter results of a lower layer. I call a pattern across the maps of a convolutional or pooling layer Conv_N or Pool_N as seen by Conv_(N+1) a FCP.
    Note: Because a 3×3 filter for a map of Conv_(N+1) has fixed parameters per map of the previous layer Conv_N or Pool_N, it combines multiple maps (filters) of Conv_N in a specific, unique way.

Anybody who ever worked with image processing and filters knows that combining basic filters may lead to the display of weirdly looking, combined information residing in complex regions on the original image. E.g., a certain combination of filters may emphasize diagonal lines or bows with some distance in between and suppress all other features. Therefore, it is at least plausible that a map of a higher convolutional layer can be translated back to an OIP. Meaning:

A high activation of certain or multiple points inside a map on Conv_3 may reflect some typical OIP pattern in the input image.

But: At the moment we have no direct proof for such an idea. And it is not at all obvious what kind of OIP pattern this may be for a distinct map – and whether it can directly be described in terms of basic geometrical elements of a figurative number representation in the MNIST case. By just looking at the maps of a layer and their activated points we do not get any clue about this.

If, however, activated maps somehow really correspond to OIPs then a FCP over multiple maps may be associated with a combination of distinct OIPs in an input image.

What are “features” then?

In many textbooks maps are also called “feature maps“. As far I understand it the authors call a “feature” what I called an OIP above. By talking about a “feature” the authors most often refer to a pattern which a CNN somehow detects or identifies in the input images.

Typical examples of “features” text-book authors often discuss and even use in illustrations are very concrete: ears, eyes, feathers, wings, a mustache, leaves, wheels, sun-glasses … I.e., a lot of authors typically name features which human beings identify as physical entities or as entities, for which we have clear conceptual ideas in our mind. I think such examples trigger ideas about CNNs which are too far-fetched and which “humanize” stupid algorithmic processes.

The arguments in favor of the detection of features in the sense of conceptual entities are typically a bit nebulous – to say the least. E.g. in a relatively new book on “Generative Deep Learning” you see a series of CNN neuron layers associated with rather dubious and unclear images of triangles etc. and at the last convolutional layer we suddenly see pretty clear sketches of a mustache, a certain hairdress, eyes, lips, a shirt, an ear .. “. The related text goes like follows (I retranslated the text from the German version of the book): “Layer 1 consists of neurons which activate themselves stronger, when they recognize certain elementary and basic features in the input image, e.g. borders. The output of these neurons is then forwarded to the neurons of layer 2 which can use this information to detect more complex features – and so on across the following layers.” Yeah, “neurons activate themselves” as they “recognize” features – and suddenly the neurons at a high enough layer see a “spectacle”. 🙁

I think it would probably be more correct to say the following:

The activation of a map of a high convolutional layer may indicate the appearance of some kind of (complex) pattern or a sequence of patterns within an input image, for which a specific filter combination produces relatively high values in a low dimensional output space.

Note: At our level of analyzing CNNs even this carefully formulated idea is speculation. Which we will have to prove somehow … Where we stand right now, we are unfortunately not yet ready to identify OIPs or repeated OIP sequences associated with maps. This will be the topic of forthcoming articles.

It is indeed an interesting question whether a trained CNN “detects” patterns in the sense of entities with an underlying “concept”. I would say: Certainly not. At least not pure CNNs. I think, we should be very careful with the use of the term “feature”. Based on the filtering convolutions perform we might say:

A “feature” (hopefully) is a pattern in the sense of defined geometrical pixel correlation in an image.

Not more, not less. Such a “feature” may or may not correspond to entities, which a human being could identify and for which he or she has a concept for. A feature is just a pixel correlation whose appearance triggers output neurons in high level maps.

By the way there are 2 more points regarding the idea of feature detection:

  • A feature or OIP may be located at different places in different images of something like a “5”. Due to different sizes of the depicted “5” and translational effects. So keep in mind that if maps do indeed relate to features it has to be explained how convolutional filtering can account for any translational invariance of the “detection” of a pattern in an image.
  • The concrete examples given for “features” by many authors imply that the features are more or less the same for two differently trained CNNs. Well, regarding the point that training corresponds to finding a minimum on a rather complex multidimensional hyperplane this raises the question how well defined such a (global) minimum really is and whether it or other valid side minima are approached.

Keep these points in mind until we come back to related experiments in further articles.

From “features” to FCPs on the last Conv-layer?

However and independent of how a CNN really reacts to OIPs or “features”, we should not forget the following:
In the end a CNN – more precisely its embedded MLP – reacts to FCPs on the last convolutional level. In our CNN an FCP on the third convolutional layer with specific active points across 128 (3×3)-maps obviously can obviously tell the MLP something about the class an input image belongs to: We have proven already that the MLP part of our simple CNN guesses the class the original image belongs to with a surprisingly high accuracy. And by construction it obviously does so by just analyzing the 128 (3×3)-activation values of the third layer – arranged into a flattened vector.

From a classification point of view it, therefore, seems to be legitimate to look out for any FCP across the maps on Conv_3. As we can visualize the maps it is reasonable to literally look for common activation patterns which different images of handwritten “4”s may trigger on the maps of the last convolutional level. The basic idea behind this experimental step is:

OIPs which are typical for images of a “4” trigger and activate certain maps or points within certain maps. Across all maps we then may see a characteristic FCP for a “4”, which not only a MLP but also we intelligent humans could identify.

Or: Multiple characteristic features in images of a “4” may trigger characteristic FCPs which in turn can be used indicators of a class an image belongs to by an MLP. Well, let us see how far we get with this kind of theory.

Levels of “abstractions”

Let us take a MNIST image which represents something which a European would consider to be a clear representation of a “4”.

In the second image I used the “jet”-color map; i.e. dark blue indicates a low intensity value while colors from light blue to green to yellow and red indicate growing intensity values.

The first conv2D-layer (“Conv2d_1”) produces the following 32 maps of my chosen “4”-image after training:

We see that the filters, which were established during training emphasize general contours but also focus on certain image regions. However, the original “4” is still clearly visible on very many maps as the convolution does not yet reduce resolution too much.

By the way: When looking at the maps the first time I found it surprising that the application of a simple linear 3×3 filter with stride 1 could emphasize an overall oval region and suppress the pixels which formed the “4” inside of this region. A closer look revealed however that the oval region existed already in the original image data. It was emphasized by an inversion of the pixel values …

Pooling
The second Conv2D-layer already combines information of larger areas of the image – as a max (!) pooling layer was applied before. We loose resolution here. But there is a gain, too: the next convolution can filter (already filtered) information over larger areas of the original image.

But note: In other types of more advanced and modern CNNs pooling only is involved after two or more successive convolutions have happened. The direct succession of convolutions corresponds to a direct and unique combination of filters at the same level of resolution.

The 2nd convolution
As we use 64 convolutional maps on the 2nd layer level we allow for a multitude of different new convolutions. It is to be understood that each new map at the 2nd cConv layer is the result of a special unique combination of filtered information of all 32 previous maps (of Pool_1). Each of the previous 32 maps contributes through a specific unique filter and respective convolution operation to a single specific map at layer 2. Remember that we get 3×3 x 32 x 64 parameters for connecting the maps of Pool_1 to maps of Conv_2. It is this unique combination of already filtered results which enriches the analysis of the original image for more complex patterns than just the ones emphasized by the first convolutional filters.

As the max-condition of the pooling layer was applied first and because larger areas are now analyzed we are not too astonished to see that the filters dissolve the original “4”-shape and indicate more general geometrical patterns – which actually reflect specific correlations of map patterns on layer Conv_1.

I find it interesting that our “4” triggers more horizontally activations within some maps on this already abstract level than vertical ones. One should not confuse these patterns with horizontal patterns in the original image. The relation of original patterns with these activations is already much more complex.

The third convolutional layer applies filters which now cover almost the full original image and combine and mix at the same time information from the already rather abstract results of layer 2 – and of all the 64 maps there in parallel.

We again see a dominance of horizontal patterns. We see clearly that on this level any reference to something like an arrangement of parallel vertical lines crossed by a horizontal line is completely lost. Instead the CNN has transformed the original distribution of black (dark grey) pixels into multiple abstract configuration spaces with 2 axes, which only coarsely reflecting the original image area – namely by 3×3 maps; i.e. spaces with a very poor resolution.

What we see here are “correlations” of filtered and transformed original pixel clusters over relatively large areas. But no constructive concept of certain line arrangements.

Now, if this were the level of “FCP-patterns” which the MLP-part of the CNN uses to determine that we have a “4” then we would bet that such abstract patterns (active points on 9×9 grids) appear in a similar way on the maps of the 3rd Conv layer for other MNIST images of a “4”, too.

Well, how similar do different map representations of “4”s look like on the 3rd Conv2D-layer?

What makes a four a four in the eyes of the CNN?

The last question corresponds to the question of what activation outputs of “4”s really have in common. Let us take 3 different images of a “4”:

The same with the “jet”-color-map:

 

Already with our eyes we see that there are similarities but also quite a lot of differences.

Different “4”-representations on the 2nd Conv-layer

Below we see comparison of the 64 maps on the 2nd Conv-layer for our three “4”-images.

If you move your head backwards and ignore details you see that certain maps are not filled in all three map-pictures. Unfortunately, this is no common feature of “4”-representations. Below you see images of the activation of a “1” and a “2”. There the same maps are not activated at all.

We also see that on this level it is still important which points within a map are activated – and not which map on average. The original shape of the underlying number is reflected in the maps’ activations.

Now, regarding the “4”-representations you may say: Well, I still recognize some common line patterns – e.g. parallel lines in a certain 75 degree angle on the 11×11 grids. Yes, but these lines are almost dissolved by the next pooling step:

Consider in addition that the next (3rd) convolution combines 3×3-data of all of the displayed 5×5-maps. Then, probably, we can hardly speak of a concept of abstract line configurations any more …

“4”-representations on the third Conv-layer

Below you find the activation outputs on the 3rd Conv2D-layer for our three different “4”-images:

When we look at details we see that prominent “features” in one map of a specific 4-image do NOT appear in a fully comparable way in the eventual convolutional maps for another image of a “4”. Some of the maps (i.e. filters after 4 transformations) produce really different results for our three images.

But there are common elements, too: I have marked only some of the points which show a significant intensity in all of the maps. But does this mean these individual common points are decisive for a classification of a “4”? We cannot be sure about it – probably it is their combination which is relevant.

So, what we ended up with is that we find some common points or some common point-relations in a few of the 128 “3×3”-maps of our three images of handwritten “4”s.

But how does this compare with maps of images of other digits? Well, look at he maps on the 3rd layer for images of a “1” and a “2” respectively:

On the 3rd layer it becomes more important which maps are not activated at all. But still the activation patterns within certain maps seem to be of importance for an eventual classification.

Conclusion

The maps of a CNN are created by an effective and guided optimization process. The results indicate the eventual detection of rather abstract patterns within and across filter maps on higher convolutional layers.

But these patterns (FCP-patterns) should not be confused with figurative elements or “features” in the original input images. Activation patterns at best vaguely remind of the original image features. At our level of analysis of a CNN we can only speculate about some correspondence of map activations with original features or patterns in an input image.

But it seems pretty clear that patterns in or across maps do not indicate any kind of constructive concept which describes how to build a “4” from underlying more elementary features in the sense of combine-able independent entities. There is no sign of conceptual constructive idea of how to denote a “4”. At least not in pure CNNs … Things may be a bit different in convolutional “autoencoders” (combinations of convolutional encoders and decoders), but this is another story we will come back to in this blog. Right now we would say that abstract (FCP-) patterns in maps of higher convolutional layers result from intricate filter combinations. These filters may react to certain patterns in an input image – but whether these patterns correspond to entities a human being would use to write down and thereby construct a “4” or an “8” is questionable.

We saw that the abstract information maps at the third layer of our CNN do show some common elements between the images belonging to the same class – and delicate differences with respect to activations resulting from images of other classes. However, the differences reside in details and the situation remains complicated. In the end the MLP-part of a CNN still has a lot of work to do. It must perform its classification task based on the correlation or anti-correlation of “point”-like elements in a multitude of maps – and probably even based on the activation level (i.e. output numbers) at these points.

This is seemingly very different from a conscious consideration process and weighing of alternatives which a human brain performs when it looks at sketches of numbers. When in doubt our brain tries to find traces consistent with a construction process defined for writing down a “4”, i.e. signs of a certain arrangement of straight and curved lines. A human brain, thus, would refer to arrangements of line elements, bows or circles – but not to relations of individual points in an extremely coarse and abstract representation space after some mathematical transformations. You may now argue that we do not need such a process when looking at clear representations of a “4” – we look and just know that its a “4”. I do not doubt that a brain may use maps, too – but I want to point out that a conscious intelligent thought process and conceptual ideas about entities involve constructive operations and not just a passive application of filters. Even from this extremely simplifying point of view CNNs are stupid though efficient algorithms. And authors writing about “features” should avoid any kind of a humanized interpretation.

In the next article

A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VI – classification by activation patterns and the role of the CNN’s MLP part

we shall look at the whole procedure again, but then we compare common elements of a “4” with those of a “9” on the 3rd convolutional layer. Then the key question will be: ” What do “4”s have in common on the last convolutional maps which corresponding activations of “9”s do not show – and vice versa.

This will become especially interesting in cases for which a distinction was difficult for pure MLPs. You remember the confusion matrix for the MNIST dataset? See:
A simple Python program for an ANN to cover the MNIST dataset – XI – confusion matrix
We saw at that point in time that pure MLPs had some difficulties to distinct badly written “4”s from “9s”. We will see that the better distinction abilities of CNNs in the end depend on very few point like elements of the eventual activation on the last layer before the MLP.

Further articles in this series

A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VII – outline of steps to visualize image patterns which trigger filter maps
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VI – classification by activation patterns and the role of the CNN’s MLP part

 

A simple CNN for the MNIST datasets – I – CNN basics

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In a previous article series
A simple Python program for an ANN to cover the MNIST dataset – I – a starting point
we have played with a Python/Numpy code, which created a configurable and trainable “Multilayer Perceptron” [MLP] for us. See also
MLP, Numpy, TF2 – performance issues – Step I – float32, reduction of back propagation
for ongoing code and performance optimization.

A MLP program is useful to study multiple topics in Machine Learning [ML] on a basic level. However, MLPs with dense layers are certainly not at the forefront of ML technology – though they still are fundamental bricks in other more complicated architectures of “Artifical Neural Networks” [ANNs]. During my MLP experiments I became sufficiently acquainted with Python, Jupyter and matplotlib to make some curious first steps into another field of Machine Learning [ML] now: “Convolutional Neural Networks” [CNNs].

CNNs on my level as an interested IT-affine person are most of all fun. Nevertheless, I quickly found out that a somewhat systematic approach is helpful – especially if you later on want to use the Tensorflow’s API and not only Keras. When I now write about some experiments I did and do I summarize my own biased insights and sometimes surprises. Probably there are other hobbyists as me out there who also fight with elementary points in the literature and practical experiments. Books alone are not enough … I hope to deliver some practical hints for this audience. The present articles are, however, NOT intended for ML and CNN experts. Experts will almost certainly not find anything new here.

Although I address CNN-beginners I assume that people who stumble across this article and want to follow me through some experiments have read something about CNNs already. You should know fundamentals about filters, strides and the basic principles of convolution. I shall comment on all these points but I shall not repeat the very basics. I recommend to read relevant chapters in one of the books I recommend at the end of this article. You should in addition have some knowledge regarding the basic structure and functionality of a MLP as well as “gradient descent” as an optimization technique.

The objective of this introductory mini-series is to build a first simple CNN, to apply it to the MNIST dataset and to visualize some of the elementary “features” a CNN allegedly detects in the images of handwritten digits – at least according to many authors in the field of AI. We shall use Keras (with the Tensorflow 2.2 backend and CUDA 10.2) for this purpose. And, of course, a bit of matplotlib and Python/Numpy, too. We are working with MNIST images in the first place – although CNNs can be used to analyze other types of input data. After we have covered the simple standard MNIST image set, we shall also work a bit with the so called “MNIST fashion” set.

But in this article I start with some introductory words on the structure of CNNs and the task of its layers. We shall use the information later on as a reference. In the second article we shall set up and test a simple version of a CNN. Further articles will then concentrate on visualizing what a trained CNN reacts to and how it modifies and analyzes the input data on its layers.

Why CNNs?

When we studied an MLP in combination with the basic MNIST dataset of handwritten digits we found that we got an improvement in accuracy (for the same setup of dense layers) when we pre-processed the data to find “clusters” in the image data before training. Such a process corresponds to detecting parts of an MNIST image with certain gray-white pixel constellations. We used Scikit-Learn’s “MiniBatchKMeans” for this purpose.

We saw that the identification of 40 to 70 cluster areas in the images helped the MLP algorithm to analyze the MNIST data faster and better than before. Obviously, training the MLP with respect to combinations of characteristic sub-structures of the different images helped us to classify them as representations of digits. This leads directly to the following question:

What if we could combine the detection of sub-structures in an image with the training process of an ANN?

CNNs seem to the answer! According to teaching books they have the following abilities: They are designed to detect elementary structures or patterns in image data (and other data) systematically. In addition they are enabled to learn something about characteristic compositions of such elementary features during training. I.e., they detect more abstract and composite features specific for the appearance of certain objects within an image. We speak of a “feature hierarchy“, which a CNN can somehow grasp and use – e.g. for classification tasks.

While a MLP must learn about pixel constellations and their relations on the whole image area, CNNs are much more flexible and even reusable. They identify and remember elementary sub-structures independent of the exact position of such features within an image. They furthermore learn “abstract concepts” about depicted objects via identifying characteristic and complex composite features on a higher level.

This simplified description of the astonishing capabilities of a CNN indicates that its training and learning is basically a two-fold process:

  • Detecting elementary structures in an image (or other structured data sets) by filtering and extracting patterns within relatively small image areas. We shall call these areas “filter areas”.
  • Constructing abstract characteristic features out of the elementary filtered structural elements. This corresponds to building a “hierarchy” of significant features for the classification of images or of distinguished objects or of the positions of such objects within an image.

Now, if you think about the MNIST digit data we understand intuitively that written digits represent some abstract concepts like certain combinations of straight vertical and horizontal line elements, bows and line crossings. The recognition of certain feature combinations of such elementary structures would of course be helpful to recognize and classify written digits better – especially when the recognition of the combination of such features is independent of their exact position on an image.

So, CNNs seem to open up a world of wonders! Some authors of books on CNNs, GANs etc. praise the ability to react to “features” by describing them as humanly interpretable entities as e.g. “eyes”, “feathers”, “lips”, “line segments”, etc. – i.e. in the sense of entity conceptions. Well, we shall critically review this idea, which I think is a misleading over-interpretation of the capacities of CNNs.

Filters, kernels and feature maps

An important concept behind CNNs is the systematic application of (various) filters (described and defined by so called “kernels”).

A “filter” defines a kind of masking pixel area of limited small size (e.g. 3×3 pixels). A filter combines weighted output values at neighboring nodes of a input layer in a specific defined way. It processes the offered information in a defined area always in the same fixed way –
independent of where the filter area is exactly placed on the (bigger) image (or a processed version of it). We call a processed version of an image a “map“.

A specific type of CNN layer, called a “Convolution Layer” [Conv layer], and a related operational algorithm let a series of such small masking areas cover the complete surface of an image (or a map). The first Conv layer of a CNN filters the information of the original image information via a multitude of such masking areas. The masks can be arranged overlapping, i.e. they can be shifted against each other by some distance along their axes. Think of the masking filter areas as a bunch of overlapping tiles covering the image. The shift is called stride.

The “filter” mechanism (better: the mathematical recipe) of a specific filter remains the same for all of its small masking areas covering the image. A specific filter emphasizes certain parts of the original information and suppresses other parts in a defined way. If you combine the information of all masks you get a new (filtered) representation of the image – we speak of a “feature map” – sometimes with a smaller size than the original image (or map) the filter is applied to. The blending of the original data with a filtering mask creates a “feature map“, i.e. a filtered view onto the input data. The blending process is called “convolution” (due to the related mathematical operations).

The picture below sketches the basic principle of a 3×3-filter which is applied with a constant stride of 2 along each axis of the image:

Convolution is not so complicated as it sounds. It means: You multiply the original data values in the covered small area by factors defined in the filter’s kernel and add the resulting values up to get a a distinct value at a defined position inside the map. In the given example with a stride of 2 we get a resulting feature map of 4×4 out of a original 9×9 (image or map).

Note that a filter need not be defined as a square. It can have a rectangular (n x m) shape with (n, m) being integers. (In principle we could also think of other tile forms as e.g. hexagons – as long as they can seamlessly cover a defined plane. Interesting, although I have not seen a hexagon based CNN in the literature, yet).

A filter’s kernel defines factors used in the convolution operation – one for each of the (n x m) defined points in the filter area.

Note also that filters may have a “depth” property when they shall be applied to three-dimensional data sets; we may need a depth when we cover colored images (which require 3 input layers). But let us keep to flat filters in this introductory discussion …

Now we come to a central question: Does a CNN Conv layer use just one filter? The answer is: No!

A Conv layer of a CNN you allows for the construction of multiple different filters. Thus we have to deal with a whole bunch of filters per each convolutional layer. E.g. 32 filters for the first convolutional layer and 64 for the second and 128 for the third. The outcome of the respective filter operations is the creation is of equally many “feature maps” (one for each filter) per convolutional layer. With 32 different filters on a Conv layer we would thus build 32 maps at this layer.

This means: A Conv layer has a multitude of sub-layers, i.e. “maps” which result of the application of different filters on previous image or map data.

You may have guessed already that the next step of abstraction is:
You can apply filters also to “maps” of previous filters, i.e. you can chain convolutions. Thus, feature maps are either connected to the image (1st Conv layer) or to the maps of a previous layer.

By using a sequence of multiple Conv layers you cover growing areas of the original image. Everything clear? Probably not …

Filters and their related weights are the end products of the training and optimization of a CNN!

When I first was confronted with the concept of filters, I got confused because many authors only describe the basic technical details of the “convolution” mechanism. They explain with many words how a filter and its kernel work when the filtering area is “moved” across the surface of an image. They give you pretty concrete filter examples; very popular are straight lines and crosses indicated by “ones” as factors in the filter’s kernel and zeros otherwise. And then you get an additional lecture on strides and padding. You have certainly read various related passages in books about ML and/or CNNs. A pretty good example for this “explanation” is the (otherwise interesting and helpful!) book of Deru and Ndiaye (see the bottom of this article. I refer to the introductory chapter 3.5.1 on CNN architectures.)

Well, the technical procedure is pretty easy to understand from drawings as given above – the real question that nags in your brain is:

“Where the hell do all the different filter definitions come from?”

What many authors forget is a central introductory sentence for beginners:

A filter is not given a priori. Filters (and their kernels) are systematically constructed and build up during the training of a CNN; filters are the end products of a learning and optimization process every CNN must absolve.

This means: For a given problem or dataset you do not know in advance what the “filters” (and their defining kernels) will look like after training (aside of their pixel dimensions already fixed by the CNN’s layer definitions). The “factors” of a filter used in the convolution operation are actually weights, whose final values are the outcome of a learning process. Just as in MLPs …

Nothing is really “moved” …

Another critical point is the somewhat misleading analogy of “moving” a filter across an image’s or map’s pixel surface. Nothing is ever actually “moved” in a CNN’s algorithm. All masks are already in place when the convolution operations are performed:

Every element of a specific e.g. 3×3 kernel corresponds to “factors” for the convolution operation. What are these factors? Again: They are nothing else but weights – in exactly the same sense as we used them in MLPs. A filter kernel represents a set of weight-values to be multiplied with original output values at the “nodes” in other layers or maps feeding input to the nodes of the present map.

Things become much clearer if you imagine a feature map as a bunch of arranged “nodes”. Each node of a map is connected to (n x m) nodes of a previous set of nodes on a map or layer delivering input to the Conv layer’s maps.

Let us look at an example. The following drawing shows the connections from “nodes” of a feature map “m” of a Conv layer L_(N+1) to nodes of two different maps “1” and “2” of
Conv layer L_N. The stride for the kernels is assumed to be just 1.

In the example the related weights are described by two different (3×3) kernels. Note, however, that each node of a specific map uses the same weights for connections to another specific map or sub-layer of the previous (input) layer. This explains the total number of weights between two sequential Conv layers – one with 32 maps and the next with 64 maps – as (64 x 32 x 9) + 64 = 18496. The 64 extra weights account for bias values per map on layer L_(N+1). (As all nodes of a map use fixed bunches of weights, we only need exactly one bias value per map).

Note also that a stride is defined for the whole layer and not per map. Thus we enforce the same size of all maps in a layer. The convolutions between a distinct map and all maps of the previous layer L_N can be thought as operations performed on a column of stacked filter areas at the same position – one above the other across all maps of L_N. See the illustration below:

The weights of a specific kernel work together as an ensemble: They condense the original 3×3 pixel information in the filtered area of the connected input layer or a map to a value at one node of the filter specific feature map. Please note that there is a bias weight in addition for every map; however, at all masking areas of a specific filter the very same 9 weights are applied. See the next drawing for an illustration of the weight application in our example for fictitious node and kernel values.

A CNN learns the appropriate weights (= the filter definitions) for a given bunch of images via training and is guided by the optimization of a loss function. You know these concepts already from MLPs …

The difference is that the ANN now learns about appropriate “weight ensembles” – eventually (!) working together as a defined convolutional filter between different maps of neighboring Conv (and/or sampling ) Layers. (For sampling see a separate paragraph below.)

The next picture illustrates the column like convolution of information across the identically positioned filter areas across multiple maps of a previous convolution layer:

The fact that the weight ensemble of a specific filter between maps is always the same, explains, by the way, the relatively (!) small number of weight parameters in deep CNNS.

Intermediate summary: The weights, which represent the factors used by a specific filter operation called convolution, are defined during a training process. The filter, its kernel and the respective weight values are the outcome of a mathematical optimization process – mostly guided by gradient descent.

Activation functions

As in MLPs each Conv layer has an associated “activation function” which is applied at each node of all maps after the resulting values of the convolution have been calculated as
the nodes input. The output then feeds the connections to the next layer. In CNNs for image handling often “Relu” or “Selu” are used as activation functions – and not “sigmoid” which we applied in the MLP code discussed in another article series of this blog.

Tensors

The above drawings indicate already that we need to arrange the data (of an image) and also the resulting map data in an organized way to be able to apply the required convolutional multiplications and summations the right way.

An colored image is basically a regular 3 dimensional structure with a width “w” (number of pixels along the x-axis), a height “h” (number of pixels along the y-axis) and a (color) depth “d” (d=3 for RGB colors).

If you represent the color value at each pixel and RGB-layer by a float you get a bunch of w x h x d float values which we can organize and index in a 3 dimensional Numpy array. Mathematically such well organized arrays with a defined number of axes (rank), a set of numbers describing the dimension along each axis (shape), a data-type, possible operations (and invariance aspects) define an abstract object called a “tensor“. Colored image data can be arranged in 3-dimensional tensors; gray colored images in a pseudo 3D-tensor which has a shape of (n, m, 1). (Keras and Tensorflow want to get imagedata in form of 2D tensors).

Now the important point is: The output data of Conv-layers and their feature maps also represent tensors. A bunch of 32 maps with a defined width and height defines data of a 3D-tensor.

You can imagine each value of such a tensor as the input or output given at a specific node in a layer with a 3-dimensional sub-structure. (In other even more complex data structures than images we would other multi-dimensional data structures.) The weights of a filter kernel describe the connections of the nodes of a feature map on a layer L_N to a specific map of a previous layer. Weights, actually, also define elements of a tensor.

The forward- and backward-propagation operations performed throughout such a complex net during training thus correspond to sequences of tensor-operations – i.e. generalized versions of the np.dot()-product we got to know in MLPs.

You understood already that e.g strides are important. But you do not need to care about details – Keras and Tensorflow will do the job for you! If you want to read a bit look a the documentation of the TF function “tf.nn.conv2d()”.

When we later on train with mini-batches of input data (i.e. batches of images) we get yet another dimension of our tensors. This batch dimension can – quite similar to MLPs – be used to optimize the tensor operations in a vectorized way. See my series on MLPs.

Chained convolutions cover growing areas of the original image

Two sections above I characterized the training of a CNN as a two-fold procedure. From the first drawing it is relatively easy to understand how we get to grasp tiny sub-structures of an image: Just use filters with small kernel sizes!

Fine, but there is probably a second question already arising in your mind:

By what mechanism does a CNN find or recognize a hierarchy of features?

One part of the answer is: Chain convolutions!

Let us assume a first convolutional layer with filters having a stride of 1 and a (3×3) kernel. We get maps with a shape of (26, 26) on this layer. The next Conv layer shall use a (4×4) kernel and also a stride of 1; then we get maps with a shape of (23, 23). A node on the second layer covers (6×6)-arrays on the original image. Two neighboring nodes a total area of (7×7). The individual (6×6)-areas of course overlap.

With a stride of 2 on each Conv-layer the corresponding areas on the original image are (7×7) and (11×11).

So a stack of consecutive (sequential) Conv-layers covers growing areas on the original image. This supports the detection of a pattern or feature hierarchy in the data of the input images.

However: Small strides require a relatively big number of sequential Conv-layers (for 3×3 kernels and stride 2) at least 13 layers to eventually cover the full image area.

Even if we would not enlarge the number of maps beyond 128 with growing layer number, we would get

(32 x 9 + 32) + (64 x 32 +64) + (128 x 64 + 128) + 10 x (128 x 128 + 128) = 320 + 18496 + 73856 + 10*147584 = 1.568 million weight parameters

to take care of!

This number has to be multiplied by the number of images in a mini-batch – e.g. 500. And – as we know from MLPs we have to keep all intermediate output results in RAM to accelerate the BW propagation for the determination of gradients. Too many data and parameters for the analysis of small 28×28 images!

Big strides, however, would affect the spatial resolution of the first layers in a CNN. What is the way out?

Sub-sampling is necessary!

The famous VGG16 CNN uses pairs and triples of convolution chains in its architecture. How does such a network get control over the number of weight parameters and the RAM requirement for all the output data at all the layers?

To get information in the sense of a feature hierarchy the CNN clearly should not look at details and related small sub-fields of the image, only. It must cover step-wise growing (!) areas of the original image, too. How do we combine these seemingly contradictory objectives in one training algorithm which does not lead to an exploding number of parameters, RAM and CPU time? Well, guys, this is the point where we should pay due respect to all the creative inventors of CNNs:

The answer is: We must accumulate or sample information across larger image or map areas. This is the (underestimated?) task of pooling– or sampling-layers.

For me it was just another confusing point in the beginning – until one grasps the real magic behind it. At first sight a layer like a typical “maxpooling” layer seems to reduce information, only; see the next picture:

The drawing explains that we “sample” the information over multiple pixels e.g. by

  • either calculating an average over pixels (or map node values)
  • or by just picking the maximum value of pixels or map node values (thereby stressing the most important information)

in a certain defined sub-area of an image or map.

The shift or stride used as a default in a pooling layer is exactly the side length of the pooling area. We thus cover the image by adjacent, non-overlapping tiles! This leads to a substantial decrease of the dimensions of the resulting map! With a (2×2) pooling size by a an effective factor of 2. (You can change the default pooling stride – but think about the consequences!)

Of course, averaging or picking a max value corresponds to information reduction.

However: What the CNN really also will do in a subsequent Conv layer is to invest in further weights for the combination of information (features) in and of substantially larger areas of the original image! Pooling followed by an additional convolution obviously supports hierarchy building of information on different scales of image areas!

After we first have concentrated on small scale features (like with a magnifying glass) we now – in a figurative sense – make a step backwards and look at larger scales of the image again.

The trick is to evaluate large scale information by sampling layers in addition to the small scale information information already extracted by the previous convolutions. Yes, we drop resolution information – but by introducing a suitable mix of convolutions and sampling layers we also force the network systematically to concentrate on combined large scale features, which in the end are really important for the image classification as a whole!

As sampling counterbalances an explosion of parameters we can invest into a growing number of feature maps with growing scales of covered image areas. I.e. we add more and new filters reacting to combinations of larger scale information.

Look at the second to last illustration: Assume that the 32 maps on layer L_N depicted there are the result of a sampling operation. The next convolution gathers new knowledge about more, namely 64 different combinations of filtered structures over a whole vertical stack of small filter areas located at the same position on the 32 maps of layer N. The new information is in the course of training conserved into 64 weight ensembles for 64 maps on layer N+1.

Resulting options for architectures

We can think of multiple ways of combining Conv layers and pooling layers. A simple recipe for small images could be

  • Layer 0: Input layer (tensor of original image data, 3 color layers or one gray layer)
  • Layer 1: Conv layer (small 3×3 kernel, stride 1, 32 filters, 32 maps (26×26), analyzes 3×3 overlapping areas)
  • Layer 2: Pooling layer (2×2 max pooling => 32 (13×13) maps,
    a node covers 4×4 non overlapping areas per node on the original image)
  • Layer 3: Conv layer (3×3 kernel, stride 1, 64 filters, 64 maps (11×11),
    a node covers 8×8 overlapping areas on the original image (total effective stride 2))
  • Layer 4: Pooling layer (2×2 max pooling => 64 maps (5×5),
    a node covers 10×10 areas per node on the original image (total effective stride 5), some border info lost)
  • Layer 5: Conv layer (3×3 kernel, stride 1, 64 filters, 64 maps (3×3),
    a node covers 18×18 per node (effective stride 5), some border info lost )

The following picture illustrates the resulting successive combinations of nodes along one axis of a 28×28 image.

Note that I only indicated the connections to border nodes of the Conv filter areas.

The kernel size decides on the smallest structures we look at – especially via the first convolution. The sampling decides on the sequence of steadily growing areas which we then analyze for specific combinations of smaller structures.

Again: It is most of all the (down-) sampling which allows for an effective hierarchical information building over growing larger image areas! Actually we do not really drop information by sampling – instead we give the network a chance to collect and code new information on a higher, more abstract level (via a whole bunch of numerous new weights).

The big advantages of the sampling layers get obvious:

  • They reduce the numbers of required weights
  • They reduce the amount of required memory – not only for weights but also for the output data, which must be saved for every layer, map and node.
  • They reduce the CPU load for FW and BW propagation
  • They also limit the risk of overfitting as some detail information is dropped.

Of course there are many other sequences of layers one could think about. E.g., we could combine 2 to 3 Conv layers before we apply a pooling layer. Such a layer sequence is characteristic of the VGG nets.

Further aspects

Just as MLPs a CNN represents an acyclic graph, where the maps contain increasingly fewer nodes but where the number of maps per layer increases on average.

Questions and objectives for this article series

An interesting question, which seldom is answered in introductory books, is whether two totally independent training runs for a given CNN-architecture applied on the same input data will produce the same filters in the same order. We shall investigate this point in the forthcoming articles.

Another interesting point is: What does a CNN see at which convolution layer?
And even more important: What do the “features” (= basic structural elements) in an image which trigger/activate a specific filter or map, look like?

If we could look into the output at some maps we could possibly see what filters do with the original image. And if we found a way to construct a structured image which triggers a specific filter then we could better understand what patterns the CNN reacts to. Are these patterns really “features” in the sense of conceptual entities? Examples for these different types of visualizations with respect to convolution in a CNN are objectives of this article series.

Conclusion

Today we covered a lot of “theory” on some aspects of CNNs. But we have a sufficiently solid basis regarding the structure and architecture now.

CNNs obviously have a much more complex structure than MLPs: They are deep in the sense of many sequential layers. And each convolutional layer has a complex structure in form of many parallel sub-layers (feature maps) itself. Feature maps are associated with filters, whose parameters (weights) get learned during the training. A map results from covering the original image or a map of a previous layer with small (overlapping) tiles of small filtering areas.

A mix of convolution and pooling layers allows for a look at detail patterns of the image in small areas in lower layers, whilst later layers can focus on feature combinations of larger image areas. The involved filters thus allow for the “awareness” of a hierarchy of features with translational invariance.

Pooling layers are important because they help to control the amount of weight parameters – and they enhance the effectiveness of detecting the most important feature correlations on larger image scales.

All nice and convincing – but the attentive reader will ask: Where and how do we do the classification?
Try to answer this question yourself first.

In the next article we shall build a concrete CNN and apply it to the MNIST dataset of images of handwritten digits. And whilst we do it I deliver the answer to the question posed above. Stay tuned …

Literature

“Advanced Machine Learning with Python”, John Hearty, 2016, Packt Publishing – See chapter 4.

“Deep Learning mit Python und Keras”, Francois Chollet, 2018, mitp Verlag – See chapter 5.

“Hands-On Machine learning with SciKit-Learn, Keras & Tensorflow”, 2nd edition, Aurelien Geron, 2019, O’Reilly – See chapter 14.

“Deep Learning mit Tensorflow, keras und Tensorflow.js”, Matthieu Deru, Alassane Ndiaye, 2019, Rheinwerk Verlag, Bonn – see chapter 3

Further articles in this series

A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – XI – Python code for filter visualization and OIP detection
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – X – filling some gaps in filter
visualization
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – IX – filter visualization at a convolutional layer
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VIII – filters and features – Python code to visualize patterns which activate a map strongly
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VII – outline of steps to visualize image patterns which trigger filter maps
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – VI – classification by activation patterns and the role of the CNN’s MLP part
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – V – about the difference of activation patterns and features
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – IV – Visualizing the activation output of convolutional layers and maps
A simple CNN for the MNIST dataset – III – inclusion of a learning-rate scheduler, momentum and a L2-regularizer
A simple CNN for the MNIST datasets – II – building the CNN with Keras and a first test
A simple CNN for the MNIST datasets – I – CNN basics

Addendum 20.10.2020: “Feature maps” or “response maps”?

Whilst reading some more books on AI I got the impression that some authors associate the term “feature map” with the full collection of all maps related to a Conv layer. A single map then is called a “response map” or an “output channel” of the feature map. However, as most books (e.g. the book of A. Geron on Machine Learning) call a singular map a “feature map” I cling to this usage throughout this series.