A hybrid classification algorithm based on coevolutionary EBFNN and domain covering method

摘要

A new hybrid scheme of the elliptical basis function neural network (EBFNN) model combined with the cooperative coevolutionary algorithm (Co-CEA) and domain covering method is presented for multiclass classification tasks. This combination of the Co-CEA EBFNN (CC-EBFNN) and the domain covering method is proposed to enhance the predictive capability of the estimated model. The whole training process is divided into two stages: the evolutionary process, and the heuristic structure refining process. First, the initial hidden nodes of the EBFNN model are selected randomly in the training samples, which are further partitioned into modules of hidden nodes with respect to their class labels. Subpopulations are initialized on modules, and the Co-CEA evolves all subpopulations to find the optimal EBFNN structural parameters. Then the heuristic structure refining process is performed on the individual in the elite pool with the special designed constructing and pruning operators. Finally, the CC-EBFNN model is tested on six real-world classification problems from the UCI machine learning repository, and experimental results illustrate that the EBFNN model can be estimated in fewer evolutionary trials, and is able to produce higher prediction accuracies with much simpler network structures when compared with conventional learning algorithms.