NeuralTools

Category Intelligent Software>Neural Network Systems/Tools

Abstract NeuralTools is a Neural Networks (NN) add-in for Microsoft Excel. It has a broad range of applications, including: stock market prediction, credit and loan risk assignment, credit fraud detection, forecasting sales, military targeting, general business forecasting, investment risk, medical diagnosis, research in scientific fields, and control systems.

NeuralTools functions and algorithms are optimized through the use of C++ .NET Dynamic Link Library (DLL) files, Not macro calculations.

NeuralTools Features/Capabilities include:

Automatically trains, tests, and predicts in one (1) step - Product allows you to have one (1) dataset and designate a percentage of randomly selected cases as test cases.

This eliminates the problem of having to set up two (2) separate sets of data for training and testing the Neural Network. Then, NeuralTools can automatically predict the cells with missing data in the dependent variable.

Missing Data - There are three (3) ways NeuralTools deals with missing data. First, you can have NeuralTools ignore the data altogether and eliminate the entire row or trial.

Second, you can use the NeuralTools Missing Data Utilities to replace missing data. Or third, you can automatically train a Neural Network to predict what the missing data value should be for that row or trial. With the second and third methods, you maximize the number of training cases.

Live Prediction - After your neural network is trained and you are ready to make predictions on variables with an unknown outcome, NeuralTools Professional offers a function that allows for live prediction updating. That is, if you change values in your independent variables, NeuralTools will automatically update the prediction.

NeuralTools comes with the following types of Neural Network algorithms:

1) Probabilistic Neural Networks (PNN)/Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN) - These allow you to train the Neural Network fast with No configuration required.

2) Multilayer Feedforward Networks (MLFN) - This is the most widely used type of Neural Network.

3) Best Net Search - This allows NeuralTools to find the best type of Neural Network for your data.

Neural Network Manager - Product comes equipped with a way to manage all your trained Neural Networks for future predictions. You can choose to embed the Neural Network directly into your Excel workbook, so that it is saved with the workbook.

Or, you can choose to store the Neural Network in its own file, independent of any Excel workbooks. Regardless of how you save your Neural Networks, the NeuralTools Neural Network Manager allows for navigation and identification of multiple Neural Networks trained on a single dataset.

Dataset and Variable Manager - Product provides a comprehensive dataset and variable manager right in Excel. You can define any number of datasets, each with the variables you want to analyze, directly from your data in Excel.

Product intelligently assesses your blocks of data, suggesting variable names and data locations for you. It detects whether variables are categorical or numerical. You can even flag variables in your dataset as ones that will Not be used.

The information stored in the Dataset Manager can be sent to another user by sending the file to them, and they can easily see which variables were used in the training of the Neural Network.

Your datasets and variables can reside in different workbooks and worksheets, allowing you to organize your data as you see fit. You can train your Neural Networks with ease each time instead of re-selecting your data over and over again in Excel.

And NeuralTools variables aren’t limited in size to a single column of data in an Excel worksheet. You can define a variable that spans multiple worksheets, allowing up to 65,535 X 255 cells or over 16 million cases for a single variable!

Reporting - Excel is great for reports and graphs, and NeuralTools makes the most of this when creating reports. NeuralTools uses Excel-format graphs, which can be customized with new colors, fonts and added text.

Report titles, number formats and text can be changed as you do in Excel. You can even take your reports from Excel into other applications.

Data Access - Excel has great data import features, so bringing your existing data into NeuralTools is easy! Use standard Excel capabilities to read in data from a database, text file or other application. If you can read it into Excel, you can use it with NeuralTools!

Two Editions - NeuralTools comes in two (2) editions: Professional and Industrial. The Professional edition allows up to 1,000 cases per dataset, and the Industrial edition has unlimited capacity.

The Industrial edition also adds Live Prediction, whereby the predicted result is updated automatically when the input data changes.

What’s New in NeuralTools --

Included in the DecisionTools Suite (an additional product from this manufacturer...) or by itself, NeuralTools is sophisticated neural networks software for Excel.

Featuring a streamlined interface, expanded data capacity, and closer integration with other DecisionTools software, NeuralTools raises the bar for predictive analysis.

1) Application Settings - The NeuralTools Application Settings dialog contains customizable defaults such as report settings, training and prediction defaults, which neural network algorithms to use, and more. This is located on the Utilities menu.

2) Settings Policy File - NeuralTools lets you save and export application settings defaults for use by other NeuralTools users. This allows you to enforce uniform settings for a group of users, ensuring consistent analysis parameters.

3) Expanded Data Sets in Excel 2007 - NeuralTools 5.5 is fully compatible with Excel 2007, allowing up to 16,384 variables per data set. This lets you use as much historical data as possible when training your neural networks, helping you obtain more accurate predictions.

4) Live Prediction with Evolver - NeuralTools can be combined with Evolver, Palisade’s genetic algorithm (GA) optimization program - (see G6G Abstract Number 20049U57).

Using NeuralTools’ Live Prediction feature, you can run an optimization problem that adjusts cells in the neural network analysis and set the Live Prediction cell as the optimization output. The latest version of NeuralTools works with the latest version of Evolver, giving you faster, more accurate optimization results.

System Requirements

Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher, Microsoft Excel 2000 or higher.

Manufacturer

Manufacturer Web Site NeuralTools

Price Contact manufacturer.

G6G Abstract Number 20048U57

G6G Manufacturer Number 102058