Data fusion using expected output membership functions

Multi-sensor systems can improve accuracy, increase detection range, and enhance reliability compared to single sensor systems. The main problems in multi-sensor systems are how to select sensors, model the sensors, and combine the data;This dissertation proposes a new data fusion method based on fuzzy set methods. The expected output membership function (EOMF) method uses the fuzzy input set and the expected fuzzy output. This method uses the intersections of the fuzzy inputs with the expected fuzzy output in order to find relationships between the given inputs and the estimate of the output. The EOMF method creates a fuzzy confidence distance measurement by assessing the fusability of the data. The fusability measure is used for finding the best position of the EOMF and the best estimate of the system output. Adaptive methods can help deal with occasional bad measurements and set the EOMF to the proper width. The EOMF method can be used for both homogeneous and heterogeneous sensors, which give redundant, cooperative or complementary information. In addition, the EOMF method is robust in the sense that it can eliminate sensor measurements that are outliers. The EOMF method compares favorably with other methods of data fusion such as the weighted average method. An example from the control of automated vehicles shows the effectiveness of the adaptive EOMF method, compared to the fixed EOMF method and the weighted average method in the presence of Gaussian and impulsive noise. This method can also be applied to nondestructive evaluation (NDE) images from heterogeneous sensors

Modelling fraud detection by attack trees and Choquet integral

Modelling an attack tree is basically a matter of associating a logical ÒndÓand a logical ÒrÓ but in most of real world applications related to fraud management the Ònd/orÓlogic is not adequate to effectively represent the relationship between a parent node and its children, most of all when information about attributes is associated to the nodes and the main problem to solve is how to promulgate attribute values up the tree through recursive aggregation operations occurring at the Ònd/orÓnodes. OWA-based aggregations have been introduced to generalize ÒndÓand ÒrÓoperators starting from the observation that in between the extremes Òor allÓ(and) and Òor anyÓ(or), terms (quantifiers) like ÒeveralÓ ÒostÓ ÒewÓ ÒomeÓ etc. can be introduced to represent the different weights associated to the nodes in the aggregation. The aggregation process taking place at an OWA node depends on the ordered position of the child nodes but it doesnÕ take care of the possible interactions between the nodes. In this paper, we propose to overcome this drawback introducing the Choquet integral whose distinguished feature is to be able to take into account the interaction between nodes. At first, the attack tree is valuated recursively through a bottom-up algorithm whose complexity is linear versus the number of nodes and exponential for every node. Then, the algorithm is extended assuming that the attribute values in the leaves are unimodal LR fuzzy numbers and the calculation of Choquet integral is carried out using the alpha-cuts.Fraud detection; attack tree; ordered weighted averaging (OWA) operator; Choquet integral; fuzzy numbers.

A fuzzy set preference model for market share analysis

Consumer preference models are widely used in new product design, marketing management, pricing, and market segmentation. The success of new products depends on accurate market share prediction and design decisions based on consumer preferences. The vague linguistic nature of consumer preferences and product attributes, combined with the substantial differences between individuals, creates a formidable challenge to marketing models. The most widely used methodology is conjoint analysis. Conjoint models, as currently implemented, represent linguistic preferences as ratio or interval-scaled numbers, use only numeric product attributes, and require aggregation of individuals for estimation purposes. It is not surprising that these models are costly to implement, are inflexible, and have a predictive validity that is not substantially better than chance. This affects the accuracy of market share estimates. A fuzzy set preference model can easily represent linguistic variables either in consumer preferences or product attributes with minimal measurement requirements (ordinal scales), while still estimating overall preferences suitable for market share prediction. This approach results in flexible individual-level conjoint models which can provide more accurate market share estimates from a smaller number of more meaningful consumer ratings. Fuzzy sets can be incorporated within existing preference model structures, such as a linear combination, using the techniques developed for conjoint analysis and market share estimation. The purpose of this article is to develop and fully test a fuzzy set preference model which can represent linguistic variables in individual-level models implemented in parallel with existing conjoint models. The potential improvements in market share prediction and predictive validity can substantially improve management decisions about what to make (product design), for whom to make it (market segmentation), and how much to make (market share prediction)

A multi-attribute decision making procedure using fuzzy numbers and hybrid aggregators

The classical Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) has two limitations. Firstly, it disregards the aspect of uncertainty that usually embedded in the data or information expressed by human. Secondly, it ignores the aspect of interdependencies among attributes during aggregation. The application of fuzzy numbers aids in confronting the former issue whereas, the usage of Choquet Integral operator helps in dealing with the later issue. However, the application of fuzzy numbers into multi-attribute decision making (MADM) demands some additional steps and inputs from decision maker(s). Similarly, identification of monotone measure weights prior to employing Choquet Integral requires huge number of computational steps and amount of inputs from decision makers, especially with the increasing number of attributes. Therefore, this research proposed a MADM procedure which able to reduce the number of computational steps and amount of information required from the decision makers when dealing with these two aspects simultaneously. To attain primary goal of this research, five phases were executed. First, the concept of fuzzy set theory and its application in AHP were investigated. Second, an analysis on the aggregation operators was conducted. Third, the investigation was narrowed on Choquet Integral and its associate monotone measure. Subsequently, the proposed procedure was developed with the convergence of five major components namely Factor Analysis, Fuzzy-Linguistic Estimator, Choquet Integral, Mikhailov‘s Fuzzy AHP, and Simple Weighted Average. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed procedure was verified by solving a real MADM problem where the image of three stores located in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Malaysia was analysed from the homemakers‘ perspective. This research has a potential in motivating more decision makers to simultaneously include uncertainties in human‘s data and interdependencies among attributes when solving any MADM problems

The arithmetic recursive average as an instance of the recursive weighted power mean

The aggregation of multiple information sources has a long history and ranges from sensor fusion to the aggregation of individual algorithm outputs and human knowledge. A popular approach to achieve such aggregation is the fuzzy integral (FI) which is defined with respect to a fuzzy measure (FM (i.e. a normal, monotone capacity). In practice, the discrete FI aggregates information contributed by a discrete number of sources through a weighted aggregation (post-sorting), where the weights are captured by a FM that models the typically subjective ‘worth’ of subsets of the overall set of sources. While the combination of FI and FM has been very successful, challenges remain both in regards to the behavior of the resulting aggregation operators—which for example do not produce symmetrically mirrored outputs for symmetrically mirrored inputs—and also in a manifest difference between the intuitive interpretation of a stand-alone FM and its actual role and impact when used as part of information fusion with a FI. This paper elucidates these challenges and introduces a novel family of recursive average (RAV) operators as an alternative to the FI in aggregation with respect to a FM; focusing specifically on the arithmetic recursive average. The RAV is designed to address the above challenges, while also facilitating fine-grained analysis of the resulting aggregation of different combinations of sources. We provide the mathematical foundations of the RAV and include initial experiments and comparisons to the FI for both numeric and interval-valued data