Journal of Machine Learning Research X (2008) 1-34 Submitted 01/08; Revised 08/08; Published XX/XX

Multiple kernel learning (MKL) aims at simultaneously learning a kernel and the associated predictor in supervised learning settings. For the support vector machine, an efficient and general multiple kernel learning algorithm, based on semi-infinite linear progamming, has been recently proposed. This approach has opened new perspectives since it makes MKL tractable for large-scale problems, by iteratively using existing support vector machine code. However, it turns out that this iterative algorithm needs numerous iterations for converging towards a reasonable solution. In this paper, we address the MKL problem through a weighted 2-norm regularization formulation with an additional constraint on the weights that encourages sparse kernel combinations. Apart from learning the combination, we solve a standard SVM optimization problem, where the kernel is defined as a linear combination of multiple kernels. We propose an algorithm, named SimpleMKL, for solving this MKL problem and provide a new insight on MKL algorithms based on mixed-norm regularization by showing that the two approaches are equivalent. We show how SimpleMKL can be applied beyond binary classification, for problems like regression, clustering (one-class classification) or multiclass classification. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm converges rapidly and that its efficiency compares favorably to other MKL algorithms. Finally, we illustrate the usefulness of MKL for some regressors based on wavelet kernels and on some model selection problems related to multiclass classification problems. c ©2008 Rakotomamonjy et al.. Rakotomamonjy et al.