Fixed-Time Synchronization of Competitive Neural Networks With Multiple Time Scales

In this brief, we investigate the fixed-time synchronization of competitive neural networks with multiple time scales. These neural networks play an important role in visual processing, pattern recognition, neural computing, and so on. Our main contribution is the design of a novel synchronizing controller, which does not depend on the ratio between the fast and slow time scales. This feature makes the controller easy to implement since it is designed through well-posed algebraic conditions (i.e., even when the ratio between the time scales goes to 0, the controller gain is well defined and does not go to infinity). Last but not least, the closed-loop dynamics is characterized by a high convergence speed with a settling time which is upper bounded, and the bound is independent of the initial conditions. A numerical simulation illustrates our results and emphasizes their effectiveness.