Patent · US Active

Variational EM algorithm for mixture modeling with component-dependent partitions

US8504491B2 · kind B2 · utility

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Key dates

Filing dateMay 25, 2010
Grant dateAug 6, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateSep 3, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F18/2321
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Described are variational Expectation Maximization (EM) embodiments for learning a mixture model using component-dependent data partitions, where the E-step is sub-linear in sample size while the algorithm still maintains provable convergence guarantees. Component-dependent data partitions into blocks of data items are constructed according to a hierarchical data structure comprised of nodes, where each node corresponds to one of the blocks and stores statistics computed from the data items in the corresponding block. A modified variational EM algorithm computes the mixture model from initial component-dependent data partitions and a variational R-step updates the partitions. This process is repeated until convergence. Component membership probabilities computed in the E-step are constrained such that all data items belonging to a particular block in a particular component-dependent partition behave in the same way. The E-step can therefore consider the blocks or chunks of data items via their representative statistics, rather than considering individual data items.

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