Algebra of Dempster-Shafer evidence accumulation

Abstract

In this work we focus on the relationship between the Dempster-Shafer (DS) and Bayesian evidence accumulation. While it is accepted that the DS theory is, in a certain sense, a generalization of the probability theory, the approaches vary in several important respects, including the treatment of uncertain information and the way the evidence is combined, making direct comparison of results of the two analyses difficult. In this work we ameliorate these difficulties by proposing a mathematical framework within which the relationship between the two methods can be made precise. The findings of the investigation elucidate the role uncertainty plays in the DS theory and enable evaluation of relative fitness of the two techniques for practical data fusion scenarios.