removeLayers

Remove layers from neural network

Syntax

netUpdated = removeLayers(net,layerNames)

Description

netUpdated = removeLayers(net,layerNames) removes the layers specified by layerNames from the dlnetwork object net. The function also removes any connections to the removed layers.

Examples

Remove Layer from Neural Network

Create a simple neural network and display the network in a plot.

net = dlnetwork;

layers = [
    imageInputLayer([28 28 1])  
    convolution2dLayer(3,16,Padding="same")
    batchNormalizationLayer
    reluLayer];

net = addLayers(net,layers);

figure
plot(net)

Remove the layer that has the name "batchnorm" and its connections. Display the updated network in a plot.

net = removeLayers(net,"batchnorm");
figure
plot(net)

Input Arguments

net — Neural network

dlnetwork object

Neural network, specified as a dlnetwork object.

layerNames — Names of layers to remove

character vector | cell array of character vectors | string array

Names of layers to remove, specified as a character vector, a cell array of character vectors, or a string array.

To remove a single layer from the network, specify the name of the layer.

To remove multiple layers, specify the layer names in a string array or cell array of character vectors, where each element of the array is a layer name.

Output Arguments

netUpdated — Updated network

dlnetwork object

Updated network, returned as an uninitialized dlnetwork object.

To initialize the learnable parameters of a dlnetwork object, use the initialize function.

The removeLayers function does not preserve quantization information. If the input network is a quantized network, then the output network does not contain quantization information.

Version History

Introduced in R2017b

R2024a: LayerGraph objects are not recommended

Starting in R2024a, LayerGraph objects are not recommended. Use dlnetwork objects instead. This recommendation means that this syntax is not recommended for LayerGraph input:

• lgraphUpdated = removeLayers(lgraph,layerNames)

Most functions that support LayerGraph objects also support dlnetwork objects. This table shows some typical usages of LayerGraph objects and how to update your code to use dlnetwork object functions instead.

Not Recommended	Recommended
lgraph = layerGraph;	net = dlnetwork;
lgraph = layerGraph(layers);	net = dlnetwork(layers,Initialize=false);
lgraph = layerGraph(net);	net = dag2dlnetwork(net);
lgraph = addLayers(lgraph,layers);	net = addLayers(net,layers);
lgraph = removeLayers(lgraph,layerNames);	net = removeLayers(net,layerNames);
lgraph = replaceLayer(lgraph,layerName,layers);	net = replaceLayer(net,layerName,layers);
lgraph = connectLayers(lgraph,s,d);	net = connectLayers(net,s,d);
lgraph = disconnectLayers(lgraph,s,d);	net = disconnectLayers(net,s,d);
plot(lgraph);	plot(net);

To train a neural network specified as a dlnetwork object, use the trainnet function.