A Novel Algorithm for Identifying Key Function Nodes in Software Network Based on Evidence Theory

Author(s):  
Qian Wang ◽  
Chun Shan ◽  
Xiaolin Zhao ◽  
Jun Dong ◽  
Jiadong Ren ◽  
...  

In a software network system, it is of great significance to identify key functions for software fault detection and maintenance. In order to better understand the characteristics and internal structure of software, a key Node Discovery algorithm based on Evidence Theory called NDET is proposed in this paper. First, the software complex network model is constructed according to the execution process of the software. Based on the Dempster-Shafer evidence theory (D-S evidence theory), the discernment frame is formed, the maximum and minimum values of the network degree and strength are determined. Second, the Basic Probability Assignment (BPA) of each node degree is calculated by considering the node degree distribution ratio value. Third, based on Dempster’s rule of combination, the evidential centrality of the node itself and the fluctuation value of the node influenced by neighbor nodes are considered for the key measurement. Finally, by using the Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) model to simulate the spreading process on real software networks, the performance of NDET is evaluated. Experiment results verify the validity and accuracy of NDET for identifying key function nodes in software.

Author(s):  
Zezheng Yan ◽  
Hanping Zhao ◽  
Xiaowen Mei

AbstractDempster–Shafer evidence theory is widely applied in various fields related to information fusion. However, the results are counterintuitive when highly conflicting evidence is fused with Dempster’s rule of combination. Many improved combination methods have been developed to address conflicting evidence. Nevertheless, all of these approaches have inherent flaws. To solve the existing counterintuitive problem more effectively and less conservatively, an improved combination method for conflicting evidence based on the redistribution of the basic probability assignment is proposed. First, the conflict intensity and the unreliability of the evidence are calculated based on the consistency degree, conflict degree and similarity coefficient among the evidence. Second, the redistribution equation of the basic probability assignment is constructed based on the unreliability and conflict intensity, which realizes the redistribution of the basic probability assignment. Third, to avoid excessive redistribution of the basic probability assignment, the precision degree of the evidence obtained by information entropy is used as the correction factor to modify the basic probability assignment for the second time. Finally, Dempster’s rule of combination is used to fuse the modified basic probability assignment. Several different types of examples and actual data sets are given to illustrate the effectiveness and potential of the proposed method. Furthermore, the comparative analysis reveals the proposed method to be better at obtaining the right results than other related methods.


Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 820
Author(s):  
Jingyu Liu ◽  
Yongchuan Tang

The multi-agent information fusion (MAIF) system can alleviate the limitations of a single expert system in dealing with complex situations, as it allows multiple agents to cooperate in order to solve problems in complex environments. Dempster–Shafer (D-S) evidence theory has important applications in multi-source data fusion, pattern recognition, and other fields. However, the traditional Dempster combination rules may produce counterintuitive results when dealing with highly conflicting data. A conflict data fusion method in a multi-agent system based on the base basic probability assignment (bBPA) and evidence distance is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the new bBPA and reconstructed BPA are used to construct the initial belief degree of each agent. Then, the information volume of each evidence group is obtained by calculating the evidence distance so as to modify the reliability and obtain more reasonable evidence. Lastly, the final evidence is fused with the Dempster combination rule to obtain the result. Numerical examples show the effectiveness and availability of the proposed method, which improves the accuracy of the identification process of the MAIF system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Xuemei Yao ◽  
Shaobo Li ◽  
Yong Yao ◽  
Xiaoting Xie

As the information measured by a single sensor cannot reflect the real situation of mechanical devices completely, a multi-sensor data fusion based on evidence theory is introduced. Evidence theory has the advantage of dealing with uncertain information. However, it produces unreasonable conclusions when the evidence conflicts. An improved fusion method is proposed to solve this problem. Basic probability assignment of evidence is corrected according to evidence and sensor weights, and an optimal fusion algorithm is selected by comparing an introduced threshold and a conflict factor. The effectiveness and practicability of the algorithm are tested by simulating the monitoring and diagnosis of rolling bearings. The result shows that the method has better robustness.


Author(s):  
Sofiia Alpert

The process of solution of different practical and ecological problems, using hyperspectral satellite images usually includes a procedure of classification. Classification is one of the most difficult and important procedures. Some image classification methods were considered and analyzed in this work. These methods are based on the theory of evidence. Evidence theory can simulate uncertainty and process imprecise and incomplete information. It were considered such combination rules in this paper: “mixing” combination rule (or averaging), convolutive x-averaging (or c-averaging) and Smet’s combination rule. It was shown, that these methods can process the data from multiple sources or spectral bands, that provide different assessments for the same hypotheses. It was noted, that the purpose of aggregation of information is to simplify data, whether the data is coming from multiple sources or different spectral bands. It was shown, that Smet’s rule is unnormalized version of Dempster rule, that applied in Smet’s Transferable Belief Model. It also processes imprecise and incomplete data. Smet’s combination rule entails a slightly different formulation of Dempster-Shafer theory. Mixing (or averaging) rule was considered in this paper too. It is the averaging operation that is used for probability distributions. This rule uses basic probability assignments from different sources (spectral bands) and weighs assigned according to the reliability of the sources. Convolutive x-averaging (or c-averaging) rule was considered in this paper too. This combination rule is a generalization of the average for scalar numbers. This rule is commutative and not associative. It also was noted, that convolutive x-averaging (c-averaging) rule can include any number of basic probability assignments. It were also considered examples, where these proposed combination rules were used. Mixing, convolutive x-averaging (c-averaging) rule and Smet’s combination rule can be applied for analysis of hyperspectral satellite images, in remote searching for minerals and oil, solving different environmental and thematic problems.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (06) ◽  
pp. 1850118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengtian Li ◽  
Ruisheng Zhang ◽  
Rongjing Hu ◽  
Fan Yang ◽  
Yabing Yao ◽  
...  

Identifying influential spreaders is a crucial problem that can help authorities to control the spreading process in complex networks. Based on the classical degree centrality (DC), several improved measures have been presented. However, these measures cannot rank spreaders accurately. In this paper, we first calculate the sum of the degrees of the nearest neighbors of a given node, and based on the calculated sum, a novel centrality named clustered local-degree (CLD) is proposed, which combines the sum and the clustering coefficients of nodes to rank spreaders. By assuming that the spreading process in networks follows the susceptible–infectious–recovered (SIR) model, we perform extensive simulations on a series of real networks to compare the performances between the CLD centrality and other six measures. The results show that the CLD centrality has a competitive performance in distinguishing the spreading ability of nodes, and exposes the best performance to identify influential spreaders accurately.


Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Pan ◽  
Deyun Zhou ◽  
Yongchuan Tang ◽  
Xiaoyang Li ◽  
Jichuan Huang

Dempster-Shafer evidence theory (DST) has shown its great advantages to tackle uncertainty in a wide variety of applications. However, how to quantify the information-based uncertainty of basic probability assignment (BPA) with belief entropy in DST framework is still an open issue. The main work of this study is to define a new belief entropy for measuring uncertainty of BPA. The proposed belief entropy has two components. The first component is based on the summation of the probability mass function (PMF) of single events contained in each BPA, which are obtained using plausibility transformation. The second component is the same as the weighted Hartley entropy. The two components could effectively measure the discord uncertainty and non-specificity uncertainty found in DST framework, respectively. The proposed belief entropy is proved to satisfy the majority of the desired properties for an uncertainty measure in DST framework. In addition, when BPA is probability distribution, the proposed method could degrade to Shannon entropy. The feasibility and superiority of the new belief entropy is verified according to the results of numerical experiments.


Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Qin ◽  
Yongchuan Tang ◽  
Junhao Wen

Dempster–Shafer evidence theory (DS theory) has some superiorities in uncertain information processing for a large variety of applications. However, the problem of how to quantify the uncertainty of basic probability assignment (BPA) in DS theory framework remain unresolved. The goal of this paper is to define a new belief entropy for measuring uncertainty of BPA with desirable properties. The new entropy can be helpful for uncertainty management in practical applications such as decision making. The proposed uncertainty measure has two components. The first component is an improved version of Dubois–Prade entropy, which aims to capture the non-specificity portion of uncertainty with a consideration of the element number in frame of discernment (FOD). The second component is adopted from Nguyen entropy, which captures conflict in BPA. We prove that the proposed entropy satisfies some desired properties proposed in the literature. In addition, the proposed entropy can be reduced to Shannon entropy if the BPA is a probability distribution. Numerical examples are presented to show the efficiency and superiority of the proposed measure as well as an application in decision making.


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