A genetic algorithm for optimization problems with fuzzy relation constraints using max-product composition

We consider nonlinear optimization problems constrained by a system of fuzzy relation equations. The solution set of the fuzzy relation equations being nonconvex, in general, conventional nonlinear programming methods are not practical. Here, we propose a genetic algorithm with max-product composition to obtain a near optimal solution for convex or nonconvex solution set. Test problems are constructed to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm showing alternative solutions obtained by our proposed model.     

An efficient solution procedure for fuzzy relation equations withmax-product composition

We study a system of fuzzy relation equations with max-product composition and present an efficient solution procedure to characterize the whole solution set by finding the maximum solution as well as the complete set of minimal solutions. Instead of solving the problem combinatorially, the procedure identifies the “nonminimal” solutions and eliminates them from the set of minimal solutions     

Infinite fuzzy relation equations with continuous t-norms

This study develops a concept of infinite fuzzy relation equations with a continuous t-norm. It extends the work by Xiong and Wang [Q.Q. Xiong, X.P. Wang, Some properties of sup-min fuzzy relational equations on infinite domains, Fuzzy Sets and Systems 151 (2005) 393-402]. We describe attainable (respectively, unattainable) solutions, which are closely related to minimal solutions to the equations. It is shown that a solution set comprises both attainable and unattainable solutions. The study offers a characterization of these solutions. Under some assumptions, the solution set is presented and discussed. Two applications are also given.     

ON TRANSITIVE SOLUTIONS OF $-FUZZY RELATION EQUATIONS DESCRIBING FUZZY SYSTEMS

The set of solutions of the $-fuzzy relation equation over finite spaces with values from linear lattice is considered. It is shown, that there exist solutions with various known types of the fuzzy transitivity, while the maximum solution has a special new type of so-called α-transitivity. An interesting convergence property of natural powers of the maximum solution is presented. That result and analogous ones, which hold for other types of transitive solutions, are applied for the analysis of the convergence of fuzzy systems described by $-fuzzy relation equations. In such a way, a new conceptual model for the behaviour of fuzzy systems is provided.     

Fuzzy relation equations and reduction of fuzzy automata

We show that the state reduction problem for fuzzy automata is related to the problem of finding a solution to a particular system of fuzzy relation equations in the set of all fuzzy equivalences on its set of states. This system may consist of infinitely many equations, and finding its non-trivial solutions may be a very difficult task. For that reason we aim our attention to some instances of this system which consist of finitely many equations and are easier to solve. First, we study right invariant fuzzy equivalences, and their duals, the left invariant ones. We prove that each fuzzy automaton possesses the greatest right (resp. left) invariant fuzzy equivalence, which provides the best reduction by means of fuzzy equivalences of this type, and we give an effective procedure for computing this fuzzy equivalence, which works if the underlying structure of truth values is a locally finite residuated lattice. Moreover, we show that even better reductions can be achieved alternating reductions by means of right and left invariant fuzzy equivalences. We also study strongly right and left invariant fuzzy equivalences, which give worse reductions than right and left invariant ones, but whose computing is much easier. We give an effective procedure for computing the greatest strongly right (resp. left) invariant fuzzy equivalence, which is applicable to fuzzy automata over an arbitrary complete residuated lattice.     

On the new solutions for a fully fuzzy linear system

In this paper, we propose a new method to present a fuzzy trapezoidal solution, namely “suitable solution”, for a fully fuzzy linear system (FFLS) based on solving two fully interval linear systems (FILSs) that are 1-cut and 0-cut of the related FILS. After some manipulations, two FILSs are transformed to 2n crisp linear equations and 4n crisp linear nonequations and n crisp nonlinear equations. Then, we propose a nonlinear programming problem (NLP) to computing simultaneous (synchronic) equations and nonequations. Moreover, we define two other new solutions namely, “fuzzy surrounding solution” and “fuzzy peripheral solution” for an FFLS. It is shown that the fuzzy surrounding solution is placed in a tolerable fuzzy solution set and the fuzzy peripheral solution is placed in a controllable fuzzy solution set. Finally, some numerical examples are given to illustrate the ability of the proposed methods.     

System of fuzzy relation equations as a continuous model of IF–THEN rules

We claim that a fuzzy relation which models a system of fuzzy IF–THEN rules has the property of continuity only if the underlying system of fuzzy relation equations is solvable. In view of this connection, it is important to consider the problem of solvability of a system of fuzzy relation equations – with respect to an unknown fuzzy relation. This problem is analyzed in the present paper. We propose several new necessary and sufficient criteria for the so-called Mamdani relation to be a solution to the system. We prove that in the general case, these same criteria are sufficient (but not always necessary) for the solvability of the system. A new, easy-to-check criterion is proposed for the solvability of the system with special fuzzy parameters.     

Matrix elementary transformations in solving systems of fuzzy relation equations

In this paper, we consider a method using matrix elementary transformations, which is similar to the method in linear algebraic systems, for solving systems of fuzzy relation equations. The solution sets of a system of fuzzy relation equations before and after performing some elementary transformations are compared. We also give some necessary and sufficient conditions for some elementary transformations which do not change the solution sets.     

Remarks on minimal solutions of a system of fuzzy relation equations over complete infinitely distributive lattices

In Section 3.6 of Fuzzy relation equations and their applications to knowledge engineering. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston (1989), Di Nola et al. presented a procedure to find a minimal solution from a fixed solution of a system of fuzzy relation equations over complete infinitely distributive lattices, and put the question: is the minimal solution found by the procedure unique or not? In this paper, we give a negative answer to the question and make some further remarks. We not only give a necessary and sufficient condition for the uniqueness of such minimal solutions, but also characterize the existence of the least solution and a unique solution of a system of fuzzy relation equations over complete infinitely distributive lattices.     

Fuzzy Relation Equations (II): The Branch-point-solutions and the Categorized Minimal Solutions

This paper presents some novel theoretical results as well as practical algorithms and computational procedures on fuzzy relation equations (FRE). These results refine and improve what has already been reported in a significant manner. In the previous paper, the authors have already proved that the problem of solving the system of fuzzy relation equations is an NP-hard problem. Therefore, it is practically impossible to determine all minimal solutions for a large system if P ≠ NP. In this paper, an existence theorem is proven: there exists a special branch-point-solution that is greater than all minimal solutions and less than the maximum solution. Such branch-point-solution can be calculated based on the solution-base-matrix. Furthermore, a procedure for determining all branch-point-solutions is designed. We also provide efficient algorithms which is capable of determining as well as searching for certain types of minimal solutions. We have thus obtained: (1) a fast algorithm to determine whether a solution is a minimal solution, (2) the algorithm to search for the minimal solutions that has at least a minimum value at a component in the solution vector, and (3) the procedure of determining if a system of fuzzy relation equations has the unique minimal solution. Other properties are also investigated.     

On explicit and implicit solutions of fuzzy linear equations

The paper is concerned with implicit and explicit solutions of a set of fuzzy linear equations. It is assumed that the left-hand side matrix of the equation set is a square crisp matrix with real entries, and the right-hand side vector consists of triangular fuzzy numbers. An explicit and an implicit solution are calculated and compared, based on fuzzy numbers arithmetic properties. Calculation examples are included. Finally, an area of a possible application is presented.     

Properties of the solution set of a fuzzy relation equation from the viewpoint of attainability

 In a fuzzy relation equation, many properties of the solution set are known, especially when the basic spaces are all finite sets. However, when the basic spaces are infinite, only a few properties are known. In this paper, we introduce a new binary relation that is weaker than the ordinary one defined on fuzzy sets, and we show that an unattainable solution is partly characterized by the proposed binary relation.     

ORDERING FUZZY SETS BY CONSENSUS CONCEPT AND FUZZY RELATION EQUATIONS

A general class of consensus measures of fuzzy sets is introduced in this paper. It is shown that, while the consensus measures are valuations but neither isotone nor antitone with respect to the lattice structure induced by the pointwise maximum and minimum operations to the set of all the fuzzy sets on a nonempty crisp set, they are antitone valuations with respect to the lattice structure induced by the generalized sharpening relation to a quotient set of the set of fuzzy sets. It is also shown that the solutions of a finite fuzzy relation equation that have the maximum consensus measure can be characterized through the join operation of the latter lattice in terms of the maximum solution and some of the minimal solutions of the equation.     

Fuzzy relational compression

This study concentrates on fuzzy relational calculus regarded as a basis of data compression. In this setting, images are represented as fuzzy relations. We investigate fuzzy relational equations as a basis of image compression. It is shown that both compression and decompression (reconstruction) phases are closely linked with the way in which fuzzy relational equations are being usually set and solved. The theoretical findings encountered in the theory of these equations are easily accommodated as a backbone of the relational compression. The character of the solutions to the equations make them ideal for reconstruction purposes as they specify the extremal elements of the solution set and in such a way help establish some envelopes of the original images under compression. The flexibility of the conceptual and algorithmic framework arising there is also discussed. Numerical examples provide a suitable illustrative material emphasizing the main features of the compression mechanisms.     

基于单体模糊神经网络的多重模糊推理方法研究

文章基于单体模糊神经网络(MFNN)对多重模糊推理的Mamdani方法进行了推广，得到的广义方法(简称G-Mamdani法)克服了原有方法的若干不足。文章采用了求解模糊关系方程的方法来确定网络的权值，依此新方法，实现了一个模糊推理机，其推理效果较好。这一方法为模糊专家系统和模糊控制系统等提供了一种新的有力的推理工具。     

Development of Granular Fuzzy Relation Equations Based on a Subset of Data

Developing and optimizing fuzzy relation equations are of great relevance in system modeling, which involves analysis of numerous fuzzy rules. As each rule varies with respect to its level of influence, it is advocated that the performance of a fuzzy relation equation is strongly related to a subset of fuzzy rules obtained by removing those without significant relevance. In this study, we establish a novel framework of developing granular fuzzy relation equations that concerns the determination of an optimal subset of fuzzy rules. The subset of rules is selected by maximizing their performance of the obtained solutions. The originality of this study is conducted in the following ways. Starting with developing granular fuzzy relation equations, an interval-valued fuzzy relation is determined based on the selected subset of fuzzy rules (the subset of rules is transformed to interval-valued fuzzy sets and subsequently the interval-valued fuzzy sets are utilized to form interval-valued fuzzy relations), which can be used to represent the fuzzy relation of the entire rule base with high performance and efficiency. Then, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) is implemented to solve a multi-objective optimization problem, in which not only an optimal subset of rules is selected but also a parameter ε for specifying a level of information granularity is determined. A series of experimental studies are performed to verify the feasibility of this framework and quantify its performance. A visible improvement of particle swarm optimization (about 78.56% of the encoding mechanism of particle swarm optimization, or 90.42% of particle swarm optimization with an exploration operator) is gained over the method conducted without using the particle swarm optimization algorithm.      

Solving fuzzy equations using evolutionary algorithms and neural nets

 In this paper we use evolutionary algorithms and neural nets to solve fuzzy equations. In Part I we: (1) first introduce our three solution methods for solving the fuzzy linear equation AˉXˉ + Bˉ= Cˉ; for Xˉ and (2) then survey the results for the fuzzy quadratic equations, fuzzy differential equations, fuzzy difference equations, fuzzy partial differential equations, systems of fuzzy linear equations, and fuzzy integral equations; and (3) apply an evolutionary algorithm to construct one of the solution types for the fuzzy eigenvalue problem. In Part II we: (1) first discuss how to design and train a neural net to solve AˉXˉ + Bˉ= Cˉ for Xˉ and (2) then survey the results for systems of fuzzy linear equations and the fuzzy quadratic.     

Analyzing the solution of a system of fuzzy linear equations by a fuzzy distance

We introduce a fuzzy norm on a subset of all fuzzy numbers by a distance and we use it to analyze an approximate solution of a system of fuzzy linear equations. By a theorem we give two error bounds for error of an approximate solution of a system of fuzzy linear equations.     

Fuzzy relation equations (I): the general and specialized solving algorithms

 In this article, we develop a new method and an algorithm to solve a system of fuzzy relation equations. We first introduce a solution-base-matrix and then give a tractable mathematical logic representation of all minimal solutions. Next, we design a new universal algorithm to get them. Two simplification rules are found to simplify the solution-base-matrix. We show that a polynomial time algorithm to find all minimal solutions for a general system of fuzzy relation equations simply does not exist with expectation of P=N P. Hence, the problem of solving fuzzy relation equations is an N P-hard problem in terms of computational complexity. Our universal algorithm is still useful when one does not solve a large number of equations. In many real applications the problem of solving fuzzy relation equations can be simplified in polynomial time problems. In this article, we will discuss several cases of practical applications which have such polynomial algorithms.