VOWEL trains WTA-SNNs for multi-valued events, overcoming resource limitations.
problem Training WTA-SNNs for multi-valued events is challenging due to non-differentiability and recurrent behavior.
method Develops a variational online local training rule (VOWEL) for WTA-SNNs using local pre- and post-synaptic information and a common reward signal.
result VOWEL outperforms conventional binary SNNs in real-world neuromorphic datasets with multi-valued events.