On fuzzy relational equations and the covering problem

Previous studies have shown that fuzzy relational equations (FREs) based on either the max-continuous Archimedean t-norm or the max-arithmetic mean composition can be transformed into the covering problem, which is an NP-hard problem. Exploiting the properties common to the continuous Archimedean t-norm and the arithmetic mean, this study proposes a generalization of them as the “u-norm”, enabling FREs that are based on the max-continuous u-norm composition also to be transformed into the covering problem. This study also proposes a procedure for transforming the covering problem into max-product FREs. Consequently, max-continuous u-norm FREs can be solved by extending any procedure for solving either the covering problem or max-product FREs.