GACEM: Genetic Algorithm Based Classifier Ensemble in a Multi-sensor System

Multi-sensor systems (MSS) have been increasingly applied in pattern classification while searching for the optimal classification framework is still an open problem. The development of the classifier ensemble seems to provide a promising solution. The classifier ensemble is a learning paradigm where many classifiers are jointly used to solve a problem, which has been proven an effective method for enhancing the classification ability. In this paper, by introducing the concept of Meta-feature (MF) and Trans-function (TF) for describing the relationship between the nature and the measurement of the observed phenomenon, classification in a multi-sensor system can be unified in the classifier ensemble framework. Then an approach called Genetic Algorithm based Classifier Ensemble in Multi-sensor system (GACEM) is presented, where a genetic algorithm is utilized for optimization of both the selection of features subset and the decision combination simultaneously. GACEM trains a number of classifiers based on different combinations of feature vectors at first and then selects the classifiers whose weight is higher than the pre-set threshold to make up the ensemble. An empirical study shows that, compared with the conventional feature-level voting and decision-level voting, not only can GACEM achieve better and more robust performance, but also simplify the system markedly.