Firefly Algorithm Optimized Functional Link Artificial Neural Network for ISA-Radar Image Recognition

Traditional neural networks are very diverse and have been used during the last decades in the fields of data classification. These networks like MLP, back propagation neural networks (BPNN) and feed forward network have shown inability to scale with problem size and with the slow convergence rate. So in order to overcome these numbers of drawbacks, the use of higher order neural networks (HONNs) becomes the solution by adding input units along with a stronger functioning of other neural units in the network and transforms easily these input units to hidden layers. In this paper, a new metaheuristic method, Firefly (FFA), is applied to calculate the optimal weights of the Functional Link Artificial Neural Network (FLANN) by using the flashing behavior of fireflies in order to classify ISA-Radar target. The average classification result of FLANN-FFA which reached 96% shows the efficiency of the process compared to other tested methods.