Hybrid Layer-Wise ANN-SNN With Surrogate Spike Encoding-Decoding Structure

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2509.24411v1
• Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2025 07:57:58 GMT
• Title: Hybrid Layer-Wise ANN-SNN With Surrogate Spike Encoding-Decoding Structure
• Abstract summary: Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have gained significant traction in both computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence.<n>We propose a novel hybrid ANN-SNN framework that integrates layer-wise encode-decode SNN blocks within conventional ANN pipelines.
• Score: 0.20999222360659606
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have gained significant traction in both computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence for their potential in energy-efficient computing. In contrast, artificial neural networks (ANNs) excel at gradient-based optimization and high accuracy. This contrast has consequently led to a growing subfield of hybrid ANN-SNN research. However, existing hybrid approaches often rely on either a strict separation between ANN and SNN components or employ SNN-only encoders followed by ANN classifiers due to the constraints of non-differentiability of spike encoding functions, causing prior hybrid architectures to lack deep layer-wise cooperation during backpropagation. To address this gap, we propose a novel hybrid ANN-SNN framework that integrates layer-wise encode-decode SNN blocks within conventional ANN pipelines. Central to our method is the use of surrogate gradients for a bit-plane-based spike encoding function, enabling end-to-end differentiable training across ANN and SNN layers. This design achieves competitive accuracy with state-of-the-art pure ANN and SNN models while retaining the potential efficiency and temporal representation benefits of spiking computation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first implementation of a surrogate gradient for bit plane coding specifically and spike encoder interface in general to be utilized in the context of hybrid ANN-SNN, successfully leading to a new class of hybrid models that pave new directions for future research.

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