A SOVIET REPORT ON THE AMERICAN 'CONFLEX' SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78B04770A002100010031-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 10, 2005
• Sequence Number: 31
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2005/05/02 :CIA-RDP78B04770A002100010031-5
Declass Review by NGA. .
A SCVI ET REPORT O: ~ THE AM :RICAN "CONFLEX"
SYST :N.
i ~ O.'.lO Wln~ 1S tl":C tr,_:.Slat 10:1 Cf an artlCle Orlglnally e nt itled
".~ tif;.aC h.~P. Id.: nti.leS a n Image, " by Engr-Col iVf. GOriCha-
_an:o, as published In the R11SSlan-language newspaper
Savetskiy ratriot (The Soviet Patriat), Moscow, 16 August
''-9~ =, Page 3. 1
At present, the .:lg~'?i-Sp~,eC Cy'OCrr:etlC maC.ilrieS are being widely
used in the various areas c= science and technology. They have reache3
phe nan;enal Speeds 1:: GCVelO~':: ~ aCCOt:nt~::o. Ti:L'S, IOr ~,Xaa:pl8, 0:1~.
O. t11e mOCierri maC~:ln: S 1S Cap able OZ dGinj more t::a n 0::~, ~DilllOn COm-
pui:atia::s in a Wori:ing day. Ard the accuracy of the co.:.putatians is ex-
ce~`ionally high.
Pra::llSing results have been aChleVed a150 In GeSlgnln[ SpeClal-
pur ose mac'rlines. Thus, they have already built ez:perlme n;:al models
of 1ile,rni::g" maC 1n.:S. 1: e baS1C dlStlnctiOn OI the 1G'arning maChir:eS
aSa1::St t'P.C, elCCtTa:liC CO:: ~:1tCr5 1S t:'lat tl':ey d0 nOt ~laVe 2. prCSP.t pr0-
~ramrr.lnn The prO~rammeQ aCtlOr:5, aS 1S known, are reduced t0 t'P.e
~- o? o
autamatlC SOlutlOn OI a definite pYOblem by t?:e COntr01 S1gr.alS, the COm-
mards. The aggregate of commands a nd numbers is the program. The
1Car Wing machines WOrk OL'i their OWn program lar reCOgn121ng 51gna1S
i n the graces of a repeated training of a "memory" to recognize ar,.d
remember images.
In passing t::rough a "training" course, such machines imitate
c..rtain functions of the human brain and are fully capable of automati-
ca:l'.y recognlzl ng lmage5, Of Yeading printed and Written ti:xtS, Ol G15-:
ti nguis::ing speech, and alsa carrying out other Tasks.
T he c'rief arorerty of human memory is, as is known, its readi-
ness, ~ hat is, the ability to rapidly withdraw from t're accumulated
sloe'.: of rime.:.bored information precisely what is necessary at the
give n mGri:Grt.' The goal c. creatl ng the learning machi Wes w'rich madel
certain brain functions is to discover the seo~uence of the hu.::ar. memory
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:c co nsciousness,
Let us become farziliar wit:, o:ze of the experimental learning ma-
c::.: es w _ch :as teen created _.. the US and is called "Corflex".
T.:e maC'lline 1S devised t0 V/O:iCv:: i :1n1aL11rC $2m1CO:lduCtOrS:
........,_,,aine is not large, a tct:i oz C,6 cubic meters. The machine has
ccntroi anel anc a scree-r., I*. coraains 4S ~rouns of memory ele-
0
::e :~s, and r;.>out 5,000 icien~ifying devices,
T'.:e ice,aifyir.g devices in l're machine look like the retina of an
eye w is h is mace up of individual sensitive elements w hich are t he e nd-
_. ~s cf ~ne ocular mirror, The adding cells of the machine model the
;~_ cpcrties of the macula lutea cf the eye which is the most sensitive
pc:t1C : Of t::e retina where t:;e OJ~eCt being viewed is "generalized"and".
clca.ly p;.rceived, 3ut the eXistin~ electro nic comparison device works
_n~':CgvuS t0 a Certal:. 5eiectlVe filter Wf:Ch 1S, SG t0 spew.{, a model Of
4 croon cf our brain where the eyes sense the already hig:ply organized
siJr:wls. ?_s the electronic devices which perceive t'cle images the ma-.
chine .:ses CO miniature photoele:::eats which are as it were the engi-
neering nalogi~;s of t::e :~:u..:an eye, Th ey arc co: Heeled to the remain-
_::m u :its of t he machine si.:~ilar to t're way that the eye is connected to
the ~~ al~, .
The o;.tput circuits o:.::e ph'ctoe'_e:no; is are connected i n
a de:i..ite
SeCaen Ce Witia all 02 the ldentifyln~r deV1CeS. The idertl` 'rc
s ~yl. o devices
....=.'.{C: it pOSSlule fOr the :YlaC?ai.C tG ~'SG'011, t::at 1S, t0 pGrC('1Vu t?:e SLl: -.
rOL::Cang Ob;eCtS W::iC11 ~ nec?dS "
arc'to re:ner:,ber" What has been seen,
T::erefore, t ne identifyin` devices are connected tc t^ m
~~ ..~ -m.e ory elements
cf th e macl.ire, The totai capacity of t he machine is about 20,00v e.lec-
lrG n1C eiementS WhiCi7 fGrm t::C 'i: :f;:nOrytt fJr aCCL:mL'lating l:lfOri: atiOn .
__s a r.:el:~ory device 1:: t~^ie ~'Y1:a.Chlne mer_:ory" they use a magnetle~
disk and _ts capacity is SGO,000 elementary signals.
.:.ach group of memory elements is connected to its own adding
~~=~ w ~~re t7G' OL.tpL't Signal 1S prOGLlCed, These slgrals are sent to the
con:ariSO:7 instrument Which strictly determines which of the incoming
Sig na15 1S t hC greatest a^.d Corr e;nGndingiy IiXeS lt. IZ the 1nCOming
~ignai cause-s doubt or if it izas come frorri an object of unknown con-
_lgurati0 n,the : :GC::1 n~; giVeS t::G Sijnal Of Calling a human Op2ralOr,
T :=~ ...ach ine can recognize gg different classes of images. It car.
read ~ S i;:;.ter$ Withoilt a, mistake Or dlgit5 and VariOL1S Sign S, a:.d Wlth In
t e limits cf each class up to lOC variations of their image. ~'or ex-
ampie, it car. recognize a written or a printed letter "A" in ? 00 different
variations,
- `~' -i'==".~%==%~erl:lg each of the 48 l:i:age classes, Drily One given
gr o'~p cf all the groups cf memory elements is used. This group in '
p~:ojecti: g the Image onto t he r:achine, in ir.:itati:ig "memory" identifies
~..e previously re.:,embered objects, images, etc. '
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1-, ~ iw;aV'eS V/hich .S CCS1~':'.GC. fOr recognition, for eiCaY=",ple,
:~ C-c. S S O: _ o
.otter ", " -S V1CW.?C ~y ti:i. ,::::xC: l: e in d1I2Grent Va.rlatlGn5 5,600
y..` :ind eac:~ tirne `'~e 1CC perceiving elements participate i7 this.
times. ;,:.
? 1711rin~ C'i=perl+T.entS On SOrtln::~ COrrBSpG:]CenCe, the maCY`Sne CGr- .
r~;Ctly and raoldly reCO~r.1Zed %Ot:i fall and aObYeVlat~:d :lames Of C1tleS
be~innin~ ~Vlt,: t::C Same letters Zt had CVeri b''=eater aCCUraCy In r000o-
riz_::g ?luman.fa.c4s:
after's::owng the mac'rine a photograph, it correctly. recog:lized~
d
^
ilaS~e
t ~: f2CeS GI perSOnS even lr: t:1e event that they were partlaily 2
~ - ----
creen or strips
b
~
.
a s
y
~:ne testi :; of the machine is continuing. The goal is to achieve ~ '
precise analysis cf all pGSSible reconnaissance air phGtGbrap'ns w'rich
CGnLaI already ~~nO~Vn CGnf1gL'ratlOnS O{ 1r:,ageS fOr mi11,,4ry eauiprnent
_ a: d :: ilitary inSallati0 :s.
The creat=_G : Gf even .:,ore improved learning mac hires opens up .
a..:azin~ prospects fo using them in military affairs. The rapid and
prCC':Se de C':p.'lering OI aeropnGtOgraphS fOr the foreign rr:ilitary Spe- .
cia'_ists at present is a very i.=~portart prGblem. In developing plans
iOr unleaS::ing a therm~O:iuC~lear war agalri5t the ratlor.s OI the SOClall'St
OOmm::'>ity, t::e lr::perlallSt C1rC1eS glue great S1gn1f1CanCe t0 eSplOriage,
Sl11JVc:rS1Ve anC reCG nnalSSanCe C.CL1V'1Ly. In preparing ZGr war the}r g1Ve
an important rGIC IO the StrateglCaer~:lpi.OtOgraphiC reconnaissance.,
At present th ~ uS is carrying on open and secret aerial photographic
reconr_aissar_cc ir. the airspace Gf Gti':er states. .
s :: ute3 inat t e must -~at`~e~ r-ee~en::di's= ~ .
I :the US it~ha heel: cb :p y
s~ :ce data on t::e territories of slates having ar. area cf more than 41
m::?ion scuare '::ilometers, and for this they must decipher ISG million
p:.G.ogra; s. One person studying these photographs with a speed of
one p oto~rap h (23x23 cm in size) per minute would reed more than.
a t::ousand years to study t::em? Even 1,000 decipherers with the mod-
or ;, decipher inn metilcds could : of study the photo graphs lr. a single year.
_L is no~ accidental t::at the military specialists in the capitalist armies
a_~ e:titrc-mely interested in the learning machines. They promise.t~ be
more reliaUle in deciphering tile, aerial p'rotographs t'ran the presently:
availaUle :ea:1s.
Tale foreign military specialists assert that machines of the "Con-
fiex" type i n the next few years should have a' fu:ldarlental .influence on
the deve'_opme nt of military equipment.
_0,~7~
C..O. 15..0-5
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