Heuristic constraints enforcement for training of and knowledge extraction from a fuzzy/neural architecture. I. Foundation

Using fuzzy/neural architectures to extract heuristic information from systems has received increasing attention. A number of fuzzy/neural architectures and knowledge extraction methods have been proposed. Knowledge extraction from systems where the existing knowledge limited is a difficult task. One of the reasons is that there is no ideal rulebase, which can be used to validate the extracted rules. In most of the cases, using output error measures to validate extracted rules is not sufficient as extracted knowledge may not make heuristic sense, even if the output error may meet the specified criteria. This paper proposes a novel method for enforcing heuristic constraints on membership functions for rule extraction from a fuzzy/neural architecture. The proposed method not only ensures that the final membership functions conform to a priori heuristic knowledge, but also reduces the domain of search of the training and improves convergence speed. Although the method is described on a specific fuzzy/neural architecture, it is applicable to other realizations, including adaptive or static fuzzy inference systems. The foundations of the proposed method are given here in Part I. The techniques for implementation and integration into the training are given in Part II, together with applications.