Fast algorithm for mining minimal generators of frequent closed itemsets and their applications

The number of frequent closed itemsets (FCIs) are usually fewer than numbers of frequent itemsets. However, it is necessary to find minimal generators (mGs) for mining association rule from them. The finding mGs approaches based on generating candidate lose timeliness when the number of frequent closed itemsets are large. In this paper, we present MG-CHARM, an efficient algorithm for finding all mGs of frequent closed itemsets. Based on the mGs properties mentioned in section 2.4, we develop an algorithm which does not generate candidates by mining directly the mGs of frequent closed itemsets at mining FCIs. Thus, the time for finding mGs of frequent closed itemsets is insignificant. Experiment shows that the time of MG-CHARM is fewer than the time of finding mGs after finding all closed itemsets (CHARM), especially in case of the the length of each frequent closed itemset is long. We also present applications of mGs for mining (minimal) non-redundant association rules.