Embodiments of the invention relate to canonical spiking neurons for spatiotemporal associative memory. An aspect of the invention provides a spatiotemporal associative memory including a plurality of electronic neurons having a layered neural net relationship with directional synaptic connectivity. The plurality of electronic neurons configured to detect the presence of a spatiotemporal pattern in a real-time data stream, and extract the spatiotemporal pattern. The plurality of electronic neurons are further configured to, based on learning rules, store the spatiotemporal pattern in the plurality of electronic neurons, and upon being presented with a version of the spatiotemporal pattern, retrieve the stored spatiotemporal pattern.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A method comprising: arranging a plurality of neuron layers into a hierarchical structure comprising multiple levels, wherein each level of the hierarchical structure representing features at varying degrees of abstraction; receiving an input stream; and processing the input stream, wherein each neuron layer in the hierarchical structure responds, in parallel, to different pattern features in the input stream. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of neuron layers comprises: a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first excitatory spiking electronic neurons; a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more second excitatory spiking electronic neurons; and a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first inhibitory spiking electronic neurons; wherein each first excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron, each second excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron and to a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron, and each first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein receiving an input stream comprises: receiving the input stream at the first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein processing the input stream comprises: processing the input stream via the first and second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layers and the first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer, in combination. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein each neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers has a different receptive field profile than another neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers. 6. A system comprising a computer processor, a computer-readable hardware storage device, and program code embodied with the computer-readable hardware storage device for execution by the computer processor to implement a method comprising: arranging a plurality of neuron layers into a hierarchical structure comprising multiple levels, wherein each level of the hierarchical structure representing features at varying degrees of abstraction; receiving an input stream; and processing the input stream, wherein each neuron layer in the hierarchical structure responds, in parallel, to different pattern features in the input stream. 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the plurality of neuron layers comprises: a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first excitatory spiking electronic neurons; a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more second excitatory spiking electronic neurons; and a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first inhibitory spiking electronic neurons; wherein each first excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron, each second excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron and to a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron, and each first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron. 8. The system of claim 7, wherein receiving an input stream comprises: receiving the input stream at the first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer. 9. The system of claim 7, wherein processing the input stream comprises: processing the input stream via the first and second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layers and the first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer, in combination. 10. The system of claim 6, wherein each neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers has a different receptive field profile than another neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers. 11. A computer program product comprising a computer readable hardware storage device having program code embodied therewith, the program code being executable by a computer to implement a method comprising: arranging a plurality of neuron layers into a hierarchical structure comprising multiple levels, wherein each level of the hierarchical structure representing features at varying degrees of abstraction; receiving an input stream; and processing the input stream, wherein each neuron layer in the hierarchical structure responds, in parallel, to different pattern features in the input stream. 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the plurality of neuron layers comprises: a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first excitatory spiking electronic neurons; a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more second excitatory spiking electronic neurons; and a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer comprising one or more first inhibitory spiking electronic neurons; wherein each first excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron, each second excitatory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a first excitatory spiking electronic neuron and to a first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron, and each first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron is connected to a second excitatory spiking electronic neuron. 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein receiving an input stream comprises: receiving the input stream at the first excitatory spiking electronic neuron layer. 14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein processing the input stream comprises: processing the input stream via the first and second excitatory spiking electronic neuron layers and the first inhibitory spiking electronic neuron layer, in combination. 15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein each neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers has a different receptive field profile than another neuron layer of the plurality of neuron layers.