What Is a Perceptron?
A perceptron receives multiple signals as inputs and outputs one signal. The "signal" here "flows" like an electric current or a river. In the same way that an electric current flows through a conductor and pushes electrons forward, the signal in a perceptron makes flow and transfers information. Unlike an electric current, the signal in a perceptron is binary: "Flow (1) or Do not flow (0)." In this book, 0 indicates "do not flow a signal" and 1 indicates "flow a signal."
(In the interest of precision, note that the perceptron described in this chapter is more accurately called an "artificial neuron" or a "simple perceptron." Here, we will call it a "perceptron" because the basic processes are often the same.)
Figure 2.1 shows an example of a perceptron that receives two signals as input:
Figure 2.1: Perceptron with two inputs
x1 and x2 are input signals...
