A review on network representation learning with multi-granularity perspective

Network data is ubiquitous, such as telecommunication, transport systems, online social networks, protein-protein interactions, etc. Since the huge scale and the complexity of network data, former machine learning system tried to understand network data arduously. On the other hand, thought of multi-granular cognitive computation simulates the problem-solving process of human brains. It simplifies the complex problems and solves problems from the easier to harder. Therefore, the application of multi-granularity problem-solving ideas or methods to deal with network data mining is increasingly adopted by researchers either intentionally or unintentionally. This paper looks into the domain of network representation learning (NRL). It systematically combs the research work in this field in recent years. In this paper, it is discovered that in dealing with the complexity of the network and pursuing the efficiency of computing resources, the multi-granularity solution becomes an excellent path that is hard to go around. Although there are several papers about survey of NRL, to our best knowledge, we are the first to survey the NRL from the perspective of multi-granular computing. This paper proposes the challenges that NRL meets. Furthermore, the feasibility of solving the challenges of NRL with multi-granular computing methodologies is analyzed and discussed. Some potential key scientific problems are sorted out and prospected in applying multi-granular computing for NRL research.