08-16-2017, 09:37 PM
Clustering of numerical data forms the basis of many classification and system modeling algorithms. The purpose of clustering is to identify natural groupings of data from a large data set to produce a concise representation of a system's behavior.
Fuzzy c-means (FCM) is a data clustering technique in which a dataset is grouped into n clusters with every datapoint in the dataset belonging to every cluster to a certain degree. For example, a certain datapoint that lies close to the center of a cluster will have a high degree of belonging or membership to that cluster and another datapoint that lies far away from the center of a cluster will have a low degree of belonging or membership to that cluster.
The Fuzzy Logic Toolbox function fcm performs FCM clustering. It starts with an initial guess for the cluster centers, which are intended to mark the mean location of each cluster. The initial guess for these cluster centers is most likely incorrect. Next, fcm assigns every data point a membership grade for each cluster. By iteratively updating the cluster centers and the membership grades for each data point, fcm iteratively moves the cluster centers to the right location within a data set. This iteration is based on minimizing an objective function that represents the distance from any given data point to a cluster center weighted by that data point's membership grade.