Rule-Based Learning Systems for Support Vector Machines

In this article, we propose some methods for deriving symbolic interpretation of data in the form of rule based learning systems by using Support Vector Machines (SVM). First, Radial Basis Function Neural Networks (RBFNN) learning techniques are explored, as is usual in the literature, since the local nature of this paradigm makes it a suitable platform for performing rule extraction. By using support vectors from a learned SVM it is possible in our approach to use any standard Radial Basis Function (RBF) learning technique for the rule extraction, whilst avoiding the overlapping between classes problem. We will show that merging node centers and support vectors explanation rules can be obtained in the form of ellipsoids and hyper-rectangles. Next, in a dual form, following the framework developed for RBFNN, we construct an algorithm for SVM. Taking SVM as the main paradigm, geometry in the input space is defined from a combination of support vectors and prototype vectors obtained from any clustering algorithm. Finally, randomness associated with clustering algorithms or RBF learning is avoided by using only a learned SVM to define the geometry of the studied region. The results obtained from a certain number of experiments on benchmarks in different domains are also given, leading to a conclusion on the viability of our proposal.