CEVCLUS: Constrained evidential clustering of proximity data

We present an improved relational clustering method integrating prior information. This new algorithm, entitled CEVCLUS, is based on two concepts: evidential clustering and constraint-based clustering. Evidential clustering uses the DempsterShafer theory to assign a mass function to each object. It provides a credal partition, which subsumes the notions of crisp, fuzzy and possibilistic partitions. Constraint-based clustering consists in taking advantage of prior information. Such background knowledge is integrated as an additional term in the cost function. Experiments conducted on synthetic and real data demonstrate the interest of the method, even for unbalanced datasets or non-spherical classes.