Generalized fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm with improved fuzzy partitions

Lin Zhu, Fu Lai Korris Chung, Shitong Wang

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

227 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The fuzziness index m has important influence on the clustering result of fuzzy clustering algorithms, and it should not be forced to fix at the usual value m = 2. In view of its distinctive features in applications and its limitation in having m = 2 only, a recent advance of fuzzy clustering called fuzzy c-means clustering with improved fuzzy partitions (IFP-FCM) is extended in this paper, and a generalized algorithm called GIFP-FCM for more effective clustering is proposed. By introducing a novel membership constraint function, a new objective function is constructed, and furthermore, GIFP-FCM clustering is derived. Meanwhile, from the viewpoints of Lpnorm distance measure and competitive learning, the robustness and convergence of the proposed algorithm are analyzed. Furthermore, the classical fuzzy c-means algorithm (FCM) and IFP-FCM can be taken as two special cases of the proposed algorithm. Several experimental results including its application to noisy image texture segmentation are presented to demonstrate its average advantage over FCM and IFP-FCM in both clustering and robustness capabilities.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)578-591
Number of pages14
JournalIEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Part B: Cybernetics
Volume39
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Mar 2009

Keywords

  • Clustering algorithm
  • Competitive learning
  • Fuzzy partitions
  • Membership constraint function

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Control and Systems Engineering
  • Software
  • Information Systems
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Generalized fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm with improved fuzzy partitions'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this