Table of Contents

InputPort

Overview

The purpose of an InputPort is to receive and combine inputs to a Mechanism, allow them to be modified, and provide them to the Mechanism’s function. An InputPort receives input to a Mechanism provided by the Projections to that Mechanism from others in a Composition. If the InputPort belongs to an ORIGIN Mechanism (see role of Mechanisms in Processes and Systems), then it receives the input specified when that Process or System is run. The PathwayProjections received by an InputPort are listed in its path_afferents, and its ModulatoryProjections in its mod_afferents attribute. Its function combines the values received from its PathWayProjections, modifies the combined value according to value(s) any ModulatoryProjections it receives, and provides the result to the assigned item of its owner Mechanism’s variable and input_values attributes (see below and Mechanism InputPorts for additional details about the role of InputPorts in Mechanisms, and their assignment to the items of a Mechanism’s variable attribute).

Creating an InputPort

An InputPort can be created by calling its constructor, but in general this is not necessary as a Mechanism can usually automatically create the InputPort(s) it needs when it is created. For example, if the Mechanism isbeing created within the pathway of a Process, its InputPort is created and assigned as the receiver of a MappingProjection from the preceding Mechanism in the pathway. InputPorts can also be specified in the input_ports argument of a Mechanism’s constructor (see below).

The variable of an InputPort can be specified using the variable or size arguments of its constructor. It can also be specified using the projections argument, if neither variable nor size is specified. The projections argument is used to specify Projections to the InputPort. If neither the variable nor size arguments is specified, then the value of the Projections(s) or their senders (all of which must be the same length) is used to determine the variable of the InputPort.

If an InputPort is created using its constructor, and a Mechanism is specified in the owner argument, it is automatically assigned to that Mechanism. Note that its value (generally determined by the size of its variable – see below) must be compatible (in number and type of elements) with the item of its owner’s variable to which it is assigned (see below and Mechanism). If the owner argument is not specified, initialization is deferred.

Owner Assignment and Deferred Initialization

An InputPort must be owned by a Mechanism. When InputPort is specified in the constructor for a Mechanism (see below), it is automatically assigned to that Mechanism as its owner. If the InputPort is created on its own, its owner can specified in the owner argument of its constructor, in which case it is assigned to that Mechanism. If its owner argument is not specified, its initialization is deferred until the InputPort is assigned to a Mechanism using the Mechanism’s add_ports method.

Primary InputPort

Every Mechanism has at least one InputPort, referred to as its primary InputPort. If InputPorts are not explicitly specified for a Mechanism, a primary InputPort is automatically created and assigned to its input_port attribute (note the singular), and also to the first entry of the Mechanism’s input_ports attribute (note the plural). The value of the primary InputPort is assigned as the first (and often only) item of the Mechanism’s variable and input_values attributes.

InputPort Specification

Specifying InputPorts when a Mechanism is created

InputPorts can be specified for a Mechanism when it is created, in the input_ports argument of the Mechanism’s constructor (see examples in Port), or in an INPUT_PORTS entry of a parameter dictionary assigned to the constructor’s params argument. The latter takes precedence over the former (that is, if an INPUT_PORTS entry is included in the parameter dictionary, any specified in the input_ports argument are ignored).

Note

Assigning InputPorts to a Mechanism in its constructor replaces any that are automatically generated for that Mechanism (i.e., those that it creates for itself by default). If any of those are needed, they must be explicitly specified in the list assigned to the input_ports argument, or the INPUT_PORTS entry of the parameter dictionary in the params argument. The number of InputPorts specified must also be equal to the number of items in the Mechanism’s variable attribute.

InputPort’s variable, value and Mechanism’s variable

Each InputPort specified in the input_ports argument of a Mechanism’s constructor must correspond to an item of the Mechanism’s variable attribute (see Mechanism), and the value of the InputPort must be compatible with that item (that is, have the same number and type of elements). By default, this is also true of the InputPort’s variable attribute, since the default function for an InputPort is a LinearCombination, the purpose of which is to combine the inputs it receives and possibly modify the combined value (under the influence of any ModulatoryProjections it receives), but not mutate its form. Therefore, under most circumstances, both the variable of an InputPort and its value should match the item of its owner’s variable to which the InputPort is assigned.

The format of an InputPort’s variable can be specified in a variety of ways. The most straightforward is in the variable argument of its constructor. More commonly, however, it is determined by the context in which it is being created, such as the specification for its owner Mechanism’s variable or for the InputPort in the Mechanism’s input_ports argument (see below and Mechanism InputPort specification for details).

Adding InputPorts to a Mechanism after it is created

InputPorts can also be added to a Mechanism, either by creating the InputPort on its own, and specifying the Mechanism in the InputPort’s owner argument, or by using the Mechanism’s add_ports method (see examples in Port).

Note

Adding InputPorts does not replace any that the Mechanism generates by default; rather they are added to the Mechanism, and appended to the list of InputPorts in its input_ports attribute. Importantly, the Mechanism’s variable attribute is extended with items that correspond to the value attribute of each added InputPort. This may affect the relationship of the Mechanism’s variable to its function, as well as the number of its OutputPorts (see note).

If the name of an InputPort added to a Mechanism is the same as one that already exists, its name is suffixed with a numerical index (incremented for each InputPort with that name; see Naming), and the InputPort is added to the list (that is, it will not replace ones that already exist).

Forms of Specification

InputPorts can be specified in a variety of ways, that fall into three broad categories: specifying an InputPort directly; use of a Port specification dictionary; or by specifying one or more Components that should project to the InputPort. Each of these is described below:

Direct Specification of an InputPort

  • InputPort class, keyword INPUT_PORT, or a string – this creates a default InputPort; if used to specify an InputPort in the constructor for a Mechanism, the item of the owner Mechanism’s variable to which the InputPort is assigned is used as the format for the InputPort`s variable; otherwise, the default for the InputPort is used. If a string is specified, it is used as the name of the InputPort (see example).
  • value – this creates a default InputPort using the specified value as the InputPort’s variable; if used to specify an InputPort in the constructor for a Mechanism, the format must be compatible with the corresponding item of the owner Mechanism’s variable (see Mechanism InputPort specification, example, and discussion below).

InputPort Specification Dictionary

  • InputPort specification dictionary – this can be used to specify the attributes of an InputPort, using any of the entries that can be included in a Port specification dictionary (see examples in Port). If the dictionary is used to specify an InputPort in the constructor for a Mechanism, and it includes a VARIABLE and/or VALUE or entry, the value must be compatible with the item of the owner Mechanism’s variable to which the InputPort is assigned (see Mechanism InputPort specification).

    The PROJECTIONS entry can include specifications for one or more Ports, Mechanisms and/or Projections that should project to the InputPort (including both MappingProjections and/or ModulatoryProjections; however, this may be constrained by or have consequences for the InputPort’s variable (see InputPort variable: Compatibility and Constraints).

    In addition to the standard entries of a Port specification dictionary, the dictionary can also include either or both of the following entries specific to InputPorts:

    • WEIGHT:<number>
      the value must be an integer or float, and is assigned as the value of the InputPort’s weight attribute (see weight and exponent); this takes precedence over any specification in the weight argument of the InputPort’s constructor.
    • EXPONENT:<number>
      the value must be an integer or float, and is assigned as the value of the InputPort’s exponent attribute (see weight and exponent); this takes precedence over any specification in the exponent argument of the InputPort’s constructor.

Specification of an InputPort by Components that Project to It

An InputPort can also be specified by specifying one or more Ports, Mechanisms or Projections that should project to it, as described below. Specifying an InputPort in this way creates both the InputPort and any of the specified or implied Projection(s) to it (if they don’t already exist). MappingProjections are assigned to the InputPort’s path_afferents attribute, while ControlProjections and GatingProjections to its mod_afferents attribute. Any of the following can be used to specify an InputPort by the Components that projection to it (see below for an explanation of the relationship between the value of these Components and the InputPort’s variable):

  • OutputPort, GatingSignal, Mechanism, or list with any of these – creates an InputPort with Projection(s) to it from the specified Port(s) or Mechanism(s). For each Mechanism specified, its primary OutputPort (or GatingSignal) is used.

  • InputPort specification tuples – these are convenience formats that can be used to compactly specify an InputPort and Projections to it any of the following ways:

    • 2-item tuple: (<Port name or list of Port names>, <Mechanism>) – 1st item must be the name of an OutputPort or Modulatory Signals, or a list of such names, and the 2nd item must be the Mechanism to which they all belong. Projections of the relevant types are created for each of the specified Ports (see Port 2-item tuple for additional details).

    • 2-item tuple: (<value, Port specification, or list of Port specs>, <Projection specification>) – this is a contracted form of the 4-item tuple described below;

    • 3 or 4-item tuple: (<value, Port spec, or list of Port specs>, weight, exponent, Projection specification) – this allows the specification of Port(s) that should project to the InputPort, together with a specification of the InputPort’s weight and/or exponent attributes of the InputPort, and (optionally) the Projection(s) to it. This can be used to compactly specify a set of Ports that project the InputPort, while using the 4th item to determine its variable (e.g., using the matrix of the Projection specification) and/or attributes of the Projection(s) to it. Each tuple must have at least the following first three items (in the order listed), and can include the fourth:

      • value, Port specification, or list of Port specifications – specifies either the variable of the InputPort, or one or more Ports that should project to it. The Port specification(s) can be a (Port name, Mechanism) tuple (see above), and/or include Mechanisms (in which case their primary OutputPort is used. All of the Port specifications must be consistent with (that is, their value must be compatible with the variable of) the Projection specified in the fourth item if that is included;
      • weight – must be an integer or a float; multiplies the value of the InputPort before it is combined with others by the Mechanism’s function (see ObjectiveMechanism for examples);
      • exponent – must be an integer or float; exponentiates the value of the InputPort before it is combined with others by the ObjectiveMechanism’s function (see ObjectiveMechanism for examples);
      • Projection specification (optional) – specifies a Projection that must be compatible with the Port specification(s) in the 1st item; if there is more than one Port specified, and the Projection specification is used, all of the Ports must be of the same type (i.e.,either OutputPorts or GatingSignals), and the Projection Specification cannot be an instantiated Projection (since a Projection cannot be assigned more than one sender).

  • InputPorts of Mechanisms to shadow – either of the following can be used to create InputPorts that receive the same inputs as (“shadow”) the ones specified:

    • InputPort or [InputPort, …] – each InputPort must belong to an existing Mechanism; creates a new InputPort for each one specified, along with Projections to it that parallel those of the one specified (see below).
    • {SHADOW_INPUTS: <InputPort or Mechanism or [<InputPort or Mechanism>,…]>} – any InputPorts specified must belong to an existing Mechanism; creates a new InputPort for each one specified, and for each of the InputPorts belonging to any Mechanisms specified, along with Projections to them that parallel those of the one(s) specified (see below).

    For each InputPort specified, and all of the InputPorts belonging to any Mechanisms specified, a new InputPort is created along with Projections to it that parallel those received by the corresponding InputPort in the list. In other words, for each InputPort specified, a new one is created that receives exactly the same inputs from the same senders as the ones specified.

InputPort variable: Compatibility and Constraints

The variable of an InputPort must be compatible with the item of its owner Mechanism’s variable to which it is assigned (see Mechanism_Variable_and_InputPorts). This may have consequences that must be taken into account when specifying an InputPort by Components that project to it. These depend on the context in which the specification is made, and possibly the value of other specifications. These considerations and how they are handled are described below, starting with constraints that are given the highest precedence:

default_variable argument for the Mechanism is also specified – the item of the variable to which the InputPort is assigned is used to determine the InputPort’s variable must. Any other specifications of the InputPort relevant to its variable must be compatible with this (for example, specifying it by value or by a MappingProjection or OutputPort that projects to it (see above).
  • If the InputPort’s variable is not constrained by any of the conditions above, then its format is determined by the specification of Components that project to it:
    • More than one Component is specified with the same :ref:`value` format – that format is used to determine the format of the InputPort’s variable.
    • More than one Component is specified with different :ref:`value` formats – the InputPort’s variable is determined by item of the default variable for the class of its owner Mechanism.
    • A single Component is specified – its value is used to determine the format of the InputPort’s variable; if the Component is a(n):
      • MappingProjection – can be specified by its class, an existing MappingProjection, or a matrix:
        • MappingProjection class – a default value is used both the for the InputPort’s variable and the Projection’s value (since the Projection’s sender is unspecified, its initialization is deferred.
        • Existing MappingProjection – then its value determines the InputPort’s variable.
        • Matrix specification – its receiver dimensionality determines the format of the InputPort’s variable. For a standard 2d “weight” matrix (i.e., one that maps a 1d array from its sender to a 1d array of its receiver), the receiver dimensionality is its outer dimension (axis 1, or its number of columns). However, if the sender has more than one dimension, then the dimensionality of the receiver (used for the InputPort’s variable) is the dimensionality of the matrix minus the dimensionality of the sender’s value (see matrix dimensionality).
      • OutputPort or ProcessingMechanism – the value of the OutputPort (if it is a Mechanism, then its primary OutputPort) determines the format of the InputPort’s variable, and a MappingProjection is created from the OutputPort to the InputPort using an IDENTITY_MATRIX. If the InputPort’s variable is constrained (as in some of the cases above), then a FULL_CONNECTIVITY_MATRIX is used which maps the shape of the OutputPort’s value to that of the InputPort’s variable.
      • GatingProjection, GatingSignal or GatingMechanism – any of these can be used to specify an InputPort; their value does not need to be compatible with the InputPort’s variable, however it does have to be compatible with the modulatory parameter of the InputPort’s function.

Structure

Every InputPort is owned by a Mechanism. It can receive one or more MappingProjections from other Mechanisms, as well as from the Process or System to which its owner belongs (if it is the ORIGIN Mechanism for that Process or System). It has the following attributes, that includes ones specific to, and that can be used to customize the InputPort:

  • projections – all of the Projections received by the InputPort.
  • path_afferents – MappingProjections that project to the InputPort, the values of which are combined by the InputPort’s function, possibly modified by its mod_afferents, and assigned to the corresponding item of the owner Mechanism’s variable.
  • mod_afferents – GatingProjections that project to the InputPort, the value of which can modify the InputPort’s value (see the descriptions of Modulation under ModulatorySignals and GatingSignals for additional details). If the InputPort receives more than one GatingProjection, their values are combined before they are used to modify the value of InputPort.
  • variable – serves as the template for the value of the Projections received by the InputPort: each must be compatible with (that is, match both the number and type of elements of) the InputPort’s variable (see Mapping_Matrix for additonal details). In general, this must also be compatible with the item of the owner Mechanism’s variable to which the InputPort is assigned (see above and Mechanism InputPort specification).
  • function – combines the value of all of the Projections received by the InputPort, and assigns the result to the InputPort’s value attribute. The default function is LinearCombination that performs an elementwise (Hadamard) sums the values. However, the parameters of the function – and thus the value of the InputPort – can be modified by any GatingProjections received by the InputPort (listed in its mod_afferents attribute. A custom function can also be specified, so long as it generates a result that is compatible with the item of the Mechanism’s variable to which the InputPort is assigned.
  • weight and exponent – these can be used by the Mechanism to which the InputPort belongs when that combines the values of its Ports (e.g., an ObjectiveMechanism uses the weights and exponents assigned to its InputPorts to determine how the values it monitors are combined by its function). The value of each must be an integer or float, and the default is 1 for both.

Execution

An InputPort cannot be executed directly. It is executed when the Mechanism to which it belongs is executed. When this occurs, the InputPort executes any Projections it receives, calls its function to combines the values received from any MappingProjections it receives (listed in its its path_afferents attribute) and modulate them in response to any GatingProjections (listed in its mod_afferents attribute), and then assigns the result to the InputPort’s value attribute. This, in turn, is assigned to the item of the Mechanism’s variable and input_values attributes corresponding to that InputPort (see Mechanism Variable and InputPorts for additional details).

Class Reference

class psyneulink.core.components.ports.inputport.InputPort(variable=None, reference_value=None, function=LinearCombination(operation=SUM), combine=None, projections=None, weight=None, exponent=None, internal_only=False)

Subclass of Port that calculates and represents the input to a Mechanism from one or more PathwayProjections. See Class Reference for additional arguments and attributes.

Parameters:
  • reference_value (number, list or np.ndarray) – the value of the item of the owner Mechanism’s variable attribute to which the InputPort is assigned; used as the template for the InputPort’s value attribute.
  • variable (number, list or np.ndarray) – specifies the shape of the InputPort’s variable, which may be used to define the shape of the matrix parameter of the MappingProjection that projects to the Inputport (see InputPort_Variable for additional details).
  • function (Function or method : default LinearCombination(operation=SUM)) – specifies the function applied to the variable. The default value combines the values of the Projections received by the InputPort. Any function can be assigned, however: a) it must produce a result that has the same format (number and type of elements) as the item of its owner Mechanism’s variable to which the InputPort has been assigned; b) if it is not a CombinationFunction, it may produce unpredictable results if the InputPort receives more than one Projection (see function.
  • combine (SUM or PRODUCT : default None) – specifies the operation argument used by the default LinearCombination function, which determines how the value of the InputPort’s projections are combined. This is a convenience argument, that allows the operation to be specified without having to specify the LinearCombination function; it assumes that LinearCombination (the default) is used as the InputPort’s function – if it conflicts with a specification of function an error is generated.
  • projections (list of Projection specifications) – specifies the MappingProjection(s), ControlProjection(s) and/or GatingProjection(s) to be received by the InputPort, and that are listed in its path_afferents and mod_afferents attributes, respectively (see InputPort variable: Compatibility and Constraints for additional details). If projections but neither variable nor size are specified, then the value of the Projection(s) or their senders specified in projections argument are used to determine the InputPort’s variable.
  • weight (number : default 1) – specifies the value of the weight attribute of the InputPort.
  • exponent (number : default 1) – specifies the value of the exponent attribute of the InputPort.
  • internal_only (bool : False) – specifies whether external input is required by the InputPort’s owner if its role is EXTERNAL_INPUT (see internal_only for details).
variable

value, list or np.ndarray – the template for the value of each Projection that the InputPort receives, each of which must match the format (number and types of elements) of the InputPort’s variable. If neither the variable or size argument is specified, and projections is specified, then variable is assigned the value of the Projection(s) or its sender.

function

Function – If it is a CombinationFunction, it combines the values of the PathwayProjections (e.g., MappingProjections) received by the InputPort (listed in its path_afferents attribute), under the possible influence of GatingProjections received by the InputPort (listed in its mod_afferents attribute). The result is assigned to the InputPort’s value attribute. For example, the default (LinearCombination with SUM as it operation) performs an element-wise (Hadamard) sum of its Projection values, and assigns to value an array that is of the same length as each of the Projection values. If the InputPort receives only one Projection, then any other function can be applied and it will generate a value that is the same length as the Projection’s value. However, if the InputPort receives more than one Projection and uses a function other than a CombinationFunction, a warning is generated and only the value of the first Projection list in path_afferents is used by the function, which may generate unexpected results when executing the Mechanism or Composition to which it belongs.

value

value or ndarray – the output of the InputPort’s function, that is assigned to an item of the owner Mechanism’s variable attribute.

label

string or number – the string label that represents the current value of the InputPort, according to the owner mechanism’s input_labels_dict. If the current value of the InputPort does not have a corresponding label, then the numeric value is returned.

weight

number – see weight and exponent for description.

exponent

number – see weight and exponent for description.

internal_only

bool – determines whether input is required for this InputPort from Run or another Composition when the InputPort’s owner is executed, and its role is designated as EXTERNAL_INPUT; if True, external input is not required or allowed; otherwise, external input is required.

name

str – the name of the InputPort; if it is not specified in the name argument of the constructor, a default is assigned by the InputPortRegistry of the Mechanism to which the InputPort belongs. Note that some Mechanisms automatically create one or more non-default InputPorts, that have pre-specified names. However, if any InputPorts are specified in the input_ports argument of the Mechanism’s constructor, those replace those InputPorts (see note), and standard naming conventions apply to the InputPorts specified, as well as any that are added to the Mechanism once it is created (see note).

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