A Fuzzy C-Medoids Clustering Algorithm Based on Multiple Dissimilarity Matrices

This paper gives a relational fuzzy c-medoids clustering algorithm that is able to partition objects taking into account simultaneously several dissimilarity matrices. The aim is to obtain a collaborative role of the different dissimilarity matrices in order to obtain a final consensus partition. These matrices could have been obtained using different sets of variables and dissimilarity functions. This algorithm is designed to give a fuzzy partition and a prototype for each fuzzy cluster as well as to learn a relevance weight for each dissimilarity matrix by optimizing an objective function. These relevance weights change at each algorithm´s iteration and are different from one cluster to another. Several examples illustrate the usefulness of the proposed algorithm.