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Jerry M. Mendel

Explainable
Uncertain
Rule-Based Fuzzy
Systems
Third Edition
Explainable Uncertain Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Jerry M. Mendel

Explainable Uncertain
Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems
Third Edition
Jerry M. Mendel
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA, USA

ISBN 978-3-031-35377-2 ISBN 978-3-031-35378-9 (eBook)


https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35378-9
This book was previously published by: Pearson Education, Inc.

# The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or
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The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to
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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To my wife Letty (1938–2022)
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Preface

Uncertainty1 is the fabric that makes life interesting. For millennia, human beings have
developed strategies to cope with a plethora of uncertainties, never absolutely sure what the
consequences would be, but hopeful that the deleterious effects of those uncertainties could be
minimized. This book presents a complete methodology for accomplishing this within the
framework of fuzzy sets and systems. These are not the original fuzzy sets and systems, but are
expanded and richer fuzzy sets and systems, that contain the original fuzzy sets and systems
within it.
The original fuzzy sets, founded by Prof. Lotfi Zadeh, have been around for close to
60 years, as of the year 2023, and yet the fuzzy systems that use them are unable to handle
uncertainties. By handle, I mean to model and minimize the effect of. That the original fuzzy
sets—type-1 fuzzy sets—and the fuzzy systems that use them—type-1 fuzzy systems—cannot
do this sounds paradoxical because the word fuzzy has the connotation of uncertainty. The
expanded fuzzy sets—type-2 fuzzy sets—and the fuzzy systems that use them—type-2 fuzzy
systems—are able to handle uncertainties because they can model them and minimize their
effects. And, if all uncertainties disappear, type-2 fuzzy sets and systems reduce to their type-1
counterparts, in much the same way that, if randomness disappears, probability and the systems
that use it reduce to determinism and deterministic systems.
Although many applications have been found for type-1 fuzzy sets and systems, it is
arguably their application to rule-based systems that has most significantly demonstrated
their importance as a powerful design methodology. Such rule-based systems, both type-1
and type-2, are what this book is about. It explains and shows how to use fuzzy sets and systems
in new ways and how to effectively solve problems that are awash in uncertainties.
When the first edition of this book was prepared in 2000 (Mendel 2001), there were (see
Fig. 1) only 29 articles that had “type 2 fuzzy” in their title; when the second edition was
prepared in 2016 (Mendel 2017), there were 2,988 articles that had “type 2 fuzzy” in their title;
and when this third edition was prepared (2022), there were 5,786 articles that had “type
2 fuzzy” in their title. It is clear that type-2 fuzzy sets and systems are no longer an emerging
technology (as it was in 2001), and are now a widely used technology.
Fuzzy sets and systems have already been applied in numerous fields, in many of which
uncertainties are present (e.g., control, signal processing, digital communications, computer
and communication networks, diagnostic medicine, operations research, financial investing,
robotics, etc.). Hence, the results in this book can immediately be used in all of these fields. To
demonstrate the performance advantages for type-2 systems over their type-1 counterparts,
when uncertainties are present, this book describes and provides results for four case studies:
forecasting of time series, knowledge-mining using surveys, fuzzy logic control, and rule-based
classification of video traffic.

1
Some of this Preface is taken from or paraphrased from the Preface to the first and second editions of this book [Mendel (2001, 2017)].

vii
viii Preface

Fig. 1 The accumulated number 6000

Accumulated number of publications


of publications from 1995 5500
through 2022, when searched in 5000
Google Scholar using the exact 4500
phrase “type 2 fuzzy” excluding 4000
citations and patents. (This figure 3500
was prepared by Dongrui Wu, and 3000
does not count the number of 2500
publications about interval-valued 2000
sets and systems.) 1500
1000
500
0
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2022
Year

Although there are many changes in this edition from the second edition, seven are worth
mentioning here:

• A quantitative methodology is provided that lets one explain in a simple way why a type-1
fuzzy system has the potential to outperform a non-fuzzy system, why an interval type-
2 fuzzy system has the potential to outperform a type-1 fuzzy system, and why a general
type-2 fuzzy system has the potential to outperform an interval type-2 fuzzy system
• A fifth case study is included that provides a multi-step quantitative methodology for
explaining the output of a fuzzy system. See Sect. 1.7 for more about this.
• The following two design methods, that were not covered in the first two editions, are now
included: clustering using fuzzy c-means (FCM), as a way to obtain an initial set of rules,
and structure identification and feature extraction (SIFE) for TSK systems, as a way to
simplify a fuzzy system (making it more interpretable and easier to explain).
• Similarity of fuzzy sets, which was relegated to an exercise in the second edition, is now in
the main body, because explanations use words, and which words to use, in the opinion of
this author, needs to be established by using similarity.
• Because fuzzy sets can model words, it is this author’s belief that such models must be based
on data that are collected from a group of subjects, and must be able to model the intra- (each
person’s) and inter- (the group’s) linguistic uncertainties that are associated with them.
Simultaneously modeling both kinds of linguistic uncertainties cannot be done using type-1
fuzzy sets, but can be done using type-2 fuzzy sets. How to obtain such a fuzzy set word
model from data that are collected from a group of subjects is explained.
• Just as the mean and variance are important uncertainty measures for a random variable, the
centroid and variance of an interval type-2 fuzzy set are important uncertainty measures for
it. Computing the centroid appeared in the first and second editions of this book. Computing
the variance is now in this edition.
• Almost all algorithms for performing type-reduction require a rank ordering of some
numbers (unless they are already rank-ordered). A new algorithm for performing type-
reduction, that does not require any rank ordering, is provided.

A small number of sections are “speculative,” in that their contents are suggested (and seem
quite plausible to this author) but have not actually been tried by this author on data. They are
marked with a superscript “s.”
This book can be read by someone who has an undergraduate BS degree, and should be of
great interest to computer scientists and engineers who already use or want to use rule-based
systems and are concerned with how to handle uncertainties within such systems. One hundred
eighty nine worked-out examples are included in the text, and 302 homework exercises are
included at the end of Chaps. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11, so that the book can be used in a
classroom setting as well as a technical reference.
Preface ix

This book can be used for either a one-semester course or a two-semester course. For a one-
semester course, that covers both type-1 and interval type-2 fuzzy systems, I would cover:

• Chapter 1: Sections 1.1 and 1.2.


• Chapter 2: All of it, except for Appendixes 1 and 2.
• Chapter 3: All of it, except for Appendixes 1 and 3.
• Chapter 6: All of it except for Sects. 6.7.3, 6.7.4, 6.9, 6.11 and Appendix 1.
• Chapter 7: Focus only on interval type-2 fuzzy sets and systems. See Sect. 7.1 for a guide on
how to do this. Appendix 3 may be helpful.
• Chapter 8: Sections 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 and Appendix 2.
• Chapter 9: Focus on singleton fuzzification for one kind of interval type-2 fuzzy system, e.g.,
center-of-sets type-reduction + defuzzification for an interval type-2 Mamdani fuzzy system.
More specifically, Sects. 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4.1, 9.4.2.1, 9.5.2, 9.6.3, 9.7, 9.9, 9.10, 9.11, 9.12,
9.13, and 9.14 and Appendix 2.
• Design: Sections 4.1, some of 4.2, 10.1, and some of 10.2.
• Explainable fuzzy systems: Sections 3.10.7 and 4.7.
• Application: Choose one of the case studies (forecasting of time series, knowledge mining
using surveys or fuzzy logic control).

For a two-semester course, I would cover:

• Semester 1: Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5


• Semester 2: Chapters 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11

Portions of this book are an amalgamation of the research of some of my past PhD students
who have worked with me during the past 30 years on fuzzy sets and systems. I, therefore, want
to express my sincere appreciation to each of them and provide the credit here that they so richly
deserve (they are listed next in chronological order).
Li-Xin Wang studied singleton type-1 fuzzy sets and systems.2 He developed many concepts
about them including the WM method for extracting type-1 rules from data (Sect. 4.2.1.2), type-
1 fuzzy basis functions and expansions (Sect. 3.8), tuning the membership function parameters
using training data and gradient algorithms (Sect. 4.2.4), interpreting a type-1 fuzzy system as a
layered architecture (Sect. 3.10.2), and arguably was the first to prove that a certain kind of
type-1 fuzzy system is a universal approximator (Sect. 3.10.4).
George Mouzouris extended Li-Xin’s works to non-singleton fuzzification (Sect. 3.4.2.2),
which represented our first attempt at handling one kind of uncertainty (uncertain
measurements of the inputs to a type-1 fuzzy system) totally within the framework of a type-
1 fuzzy system.
Nilesh Karnik provided the entire foundation and framework for singleton type-2 fuzzy
systems, including3 type-reduction and two very widely used algorithms for computing the
type-reduced set (the KM algorithms), as well as algorithms for computing the join and meet of
general type-2 fuzzy sets, and the extended sup-star composition. Many of the topics that are in
Chaps. 6, 7, and 8 and Sect. 9.4.1 are due to him.
Qilian Liang made type-2 fuzzy systems practical by focusing on how to design such
systems when the uncertainties about type-1 fuzzy sets are modeled as type-1 interval fuzzy
numbers, the results being interval type-2 Mamdani and TSK fuzzy systems (this was done for
singleton and two kinds of non-singleton fuzzification). Many of the topics that are in Chap. 9

2
Why I now prefer to call such systems “fuzzy systems” rather than “fuzzy logic systems,” as was done in Mendel (2001), is explained in Sect. 1.2
(see the paragraph about the inference block of Fig. 1.2).
3
Although Lotfi Zadeh introduced the concept of a type-2 fuzzy set in 1975, and after that date a very small number of other papers were published
about type-2 fuzzy sets, no one prior to our work had developed a type-2 fuzzy system.
x Preface

are due to him. The simulations in this book about time-series forecasting of the Mackey-Glass
chaotic time series (Sects. 4.3 and 10.3), rule-based classification of video traffic (Sects. 4.5 and
10.5), all appeared in the first and second editions of this book, and were performed by him.
Hongwei Wu developed the uncertainty bounds for type-reduced sets. The material that is in
Sect. 9.8 is due to her. She also proved a very important result about the switch points of the
centroid (covered in Property 8.23).
Feilong Liu developed the α-plane representation of a general type-2 fuzzy set (covered in
Sect. 6.7.3) and showed how it can be used to compute the centroid of a general type-2 fuzzy set
(covered in Sect. 8.5.1); established and proved the properties of the Interval Weighted Average
that are covered in Appendix 3.1 of Chap. 8; and co-developed the Interval Approach for
modeling words using interval data that are collected from a group of subjects using interval
type-2 fuzzy sets (portions of Sects. 5.3, 5.4, and 6.11), one of whose most important steps
(described in Sect. 5.3.1) quantifies the slogan “words must also mean similar things to different
people.”
Dongrui Wu improved (enhanced) the KM algorithms (the EKM algorithms, in Sect. 2.1.1
of Appendix 2 to Chap. 8); developed average cardinality and crisp Jaccard similarity of
interval type-2 fuzzy sets (Appendix 4 to Chap. 7); provided many very important insights
and theoretical results about fuzzy systems, including continuity of type-1 and interval type-
2 fuzzy systems (Sects. 3.10.5 and 9.14.5), and greater adaptiveness and novelty of interval
type-2 fuzzy systems over type-1 fuzzy systems (Sect. 9.14.1, items 9 and 10); and
co-developed the Enhanced Interval Approach (EIA) for modeling words using interval data
that are collected from a group of subjects using interval type-2 fuzzy sets (portions of Sects.
5.3, 5.4, and 6.11). He also provided the comprehensive example that is in Sect. 9.7.
Mohammad Biglarbegian, along with Prof. William Melek, developed the direct
defuzzification method known as the BMM method (Sect. 9.9.2) and showed how it can be
used in rigorous studies of stability and robustness of a control system.
Daoyuan Zhai examined many aspects of general type-2 fuzzy sets, including the
connections between end-points and average of end-points defuzzification in a general type-
2 fuzzy system (Theorem 11.3) and centroid (and enhanced centroid) flow algorithms for
speeding up the computations of the centroid of a general type-2 fuzzy set (Sect. 8.5.4).
Mohammad Reza Rajati collected word data for 34 probability terms and then obtained
interval type-2 fuzzy sets models for them using the EIA. Example 6.28 is due to him.
Other students who worked on many aspects of type-1 or interval type-2 fuzzy sets and
systems that fell outside of the scope of this book but that influenced the writing of this book are
Minshen Hao and Mohammad Mehdi Korjani.
In addition to past PhD students, I have had the privilege of working with many colleagues
around the world, and want to also express my sincere appreciation to each of them and provide
the credit here that they also so richly deserve for some of the items that are also included in this
book (they are listed in alphabetical order):

• Dr. Piero Bonissone: Piero worked with me on explainable fuzzy systems (Sect. 4.7), and
introduced the metric for quality of explanations that is described in Sect. 4.7.2.3.
• Dr. Chao Chen and Prof. John Garibaldi: Chao, John, and I co-developed CGM type-
reduction algorithms that don’t require sorting (Sect. 2.2 of Appendix 2 to Chap. 8).
• Dr. Simon Coupland: Simon, Dongrui Wu, and I co-developed the Enhanced Interval
Approach (portions of Sects. 5.3, 5.4, and 6.11).
• Prof. Hani Hagras and Dr. Ravikiran Chimatupu: In addition to Hani’s many works on
extremely interesting and novel applications of interval and general type-2 fuzzy systems,
applications that have greatly influenced many other researchers to work on type-2 fuzzy sets
and systems, Hani and Ravikiran worked with me on rule partitions for non-singleton fuzzy
systems [see Mendel et al. (2020) that is listed at the end of Chap. 3].
Preface xi

• Prof. Tufan Kumbasar: Tufan made very valuable contributions to this book about fuzzy
logic control, in Sects. 4.6, 10.6, and 11.17. He wrote much of what is in those three sections,
and generated all of the simulations. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to him for
helping me in this extraordinary way.
• Prof. Robert (Bob) John (deceased) and Dr. Imo Eyoh: The wavy-slice representation of a
general type-2 fuzzy set (Sect. 6.7.2) is a result of the joint collaboration between Bob and
myself. Rule partitions for type-1 intuitionistic fuzzy systems (Exercise 3.26) are a result of
the joint collaboration between Imo, Bob, and myself.
• Prof. Xinwang Liu: The continuous KM algorithms for the centroid of an interval type-
2 fuzzy set as well as its properties (Sect. 3.2 in Appendix 3 of Chap. 8) are the results of the
joint collaboration between Xinwang and myself.
• Prof. Peter Sussner: Peter was an enormous help in straightening out the notations for type-
2 fuzzy sets (Chap. 6).

I gratefully acknowledge material quoted from books or journals by AIAA, American


Association for the Advancement of Science, Elsevier, IEEE, McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hall,
Springer, and Wiley. When a quote is used, a reference is made to a specific publication that is
listed at the end of each chapter. I also gratefully acknowledge Prof. Vladik Kreinovich for
letting me quote some material about similarity in Sect. 2.2 of Appendix 2 to Chap. 2 and
subsethood in Exercise 2.46 from a conference paper [see Nguyen and Kreinovich (2008) that
is listed at the end of Chap. 2].
For a complete listing of quoted books or articles, please see the References that are at the
end of each chapter. The author also gratefully acknowledges Nilesh Karnik for material quoted
from a report that I co-authored with him.
I am also very grateful to my editor Mary James; to my production editor Suhani Jain who
guided me through the final production of the book; and to other staff members at Springer for
their help in the production of this book.
My wife Letty passed away during the preparation of this third edition. For more than
62 years she provided me with a wonderful environment that has made the writing of this book,
as well as so much more, possible. This book is dedicated to her memory.

Los Angeles, CA, USA Jerry M. Mendel


March 2023

References

Mendel, J. M. 2001. Introduction to rule-based fuzzy logic systems: Introduction and new
directions, Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall.
Mendel, J. M. 2017. Introduction to rule-based fuzzy systems: Introduction and new directions,
Second edition, Cham: Springer.
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 What This Book Is About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 Partitions and Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 The Structure of a Rule-Based Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 A New Direction for Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4 Fundamental Design Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Advisable Design Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 Understanding the Potential for Improved Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.7 Explainable Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.8 An Impressionistic Brief History of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets
and Fuzzy Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.9 Literature on Type-2 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9.1 Early Literature: 1975–1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.9.2 Publications that Heavily Influenced the First Edition
of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.9.3 Most Cited Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.10 Coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.11 Computation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1 Crisp Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Associated Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2.1 Lotfi A. Zadeh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Set Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2.3 Type-1 Fuzzy Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2.4 Linguistic Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.5 Returning to Linguistic Labels from Numerical Values of MFs . 25
2.3 Set Theoretic Operations for Crisp Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.4 Set Theoretic Operations for Type-1 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.5 Crisp Relations and Compositions on the Same Product Space . . . . . . . . . 30
2.6 Fuzzy Relations and Compositions on the Same Product Space . . . . . . . . 30
2.7 Crisp Relations and Compositions on Different Product Spaces . . . . . . . . 33
2.8 Fuzzy Relations and Compositions on Different Product Spaces . . . . . . . . 35
2.9 Hedges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.10 Extension Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.11 α-Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.12 Representing Type-1 Fuzzy Sets Using α-Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.13 Functions of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets Computed by Using α-Cuts . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.14 Multivariable MFs and Cartesian Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.15 Crisp Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

xiii
xiv Contents

2.16 From Crisp Logic to Fuzzy Logic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55


2.17 Mamdani (Engineering) Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
2.18 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Appendix 1: Properties of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
1.1 Laws That Are Satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
1.2 Laws That Are Not Satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Appendix 2: Cardinality and Similarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.1 Cardinality of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.2 Similarity of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3 Type-1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.1 Type-1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.2 Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3.3 Fuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
3.4 Fuzzy Inference Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.4.1 General Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
3.4.2 Fuzzification and Its Effects on Inference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
3.5 Combining Fired-Rule Output Sets on the Way to Defuzzification . . . . . . 86
3.5.1 Mamdani Fuzzy System: Combining Using Set Theoretic
Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.5.2 Mamdani Fuzzy System: Combining Using a Weighted
Combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.5.3 Mamdani and TSK Fuzzy Systems: Combining During
Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.6 Defuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.6.1 Mamdani Fuzzy System: Centroid Defuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.6.2 Mamdani Fuzzy System: Height Defuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.6.3 Mamdani Fuzzy System: COS Defuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.6.4 TSK Fuzzy System Defuzzifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.7 Comprehensive Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.8 Fuzzy Basis Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.9 Sculpting the State Space and the Potential for Improved
Performance over a Non-Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.9.1 Course Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.9.2 Fine Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
3.9.3 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.10 Remarks and Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.10.1 Unique Features of Type-1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.10.2 Layered Architecture Interpretations of a Fuzzy System . . . . . . 106
3.10.3 Functional Equivalence to Other Machine Learning Methods . . 107
3.10.4 Universal Approximation by Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.10.5 Continuity of Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.10.6 Rule Explosion and Some Ways to Control It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.10.7 Interpretable and Explainable T1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 113
3.10.8 A Top-Down Approach to T1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Appendix 1: Non-Singleton Fuzzification for a Triangle FN and a Trapezoidal
Antecedent MF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
1.1 Evaluation of Sup-Star Composition for Minimum t-Norm . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
1.2 Evaluation of Sup-Star Composition for Product t-Norm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
1.3 A Novel Suggestion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Contents xv

Appendix 2: Constructing Type-1 Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120


2.1 Singleton Fuzzification: T1 First-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
2.2 Singleton Fuzzification: T1 Second-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
2.3 Non-Singleton Fuzzification: T1 First-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
2.4 Non-Singleton Fuzzification: T1 Second-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . 123
2.5 Rule Crossover Phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Appendix 3: Procedure for Determining the Active Rules in a First-Order
Rule Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.1 First-Order Rule Partition Information Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
3.2 Indexing Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
3.3 Determining Rules Associated with x = x′ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
4 Type-1 Fuzzy Systems: Design Methods and Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.1 Designing Type-1 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.1.1 Design Choices and Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.1.2 An Interpretation for the Design of a Type-1 Fuzzy System . . . . 142
4.1.3 Recapitulation of Mamdani and TSK Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . 143
4.1.4 Number of Design Degrees of Freedom and a Design
Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.1.5 High-Level Design Statements and Design Approaches . . . . . . . 145
4.2 Some Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.2.1 One-Pass Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.2.2 Clustering Using Fuzzy c-Means (FCM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
4.2.3 Least Squares (LS) Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
4.2.4 Derivative-Based Methods (Back-Propagation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
4.2.5 Derivative-Free Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
4.2.6 Hybrid Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
4.2.7 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
4.3 Case Study: Forecasting of Time-Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
4.3.1 Mackey-Glass Chaotic Time Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
4.3.2 One-Pass Design: Singleton Fuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
4.3.3 Derivative-Based (BP) Design: Singleton Fuzzification . . . . . . . 167
4.3.4 A Change in the Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
4.3.5 One-Pass Design: Non-singleton Fuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
4.3.6 Derivative-Based (BP) Design: Non-singleton Fuzzification . . . 171
4.3.7 Final Remark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4.4 Case Study: Knowledge Mining Using Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4.4.1 Methodology for Knowledge Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
4.4.2 Survey Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
4.4.3 Determining Type-1 Fuzzy Sets from Survey Results . . . . . . . . 176
4.4.4 What Does One Do with a Histogram of Responses? . . . . . . . . 177
4.4.5 Averaging the Responses: Consensus FLAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
4.4.6 Preserving All of the Responses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
4.4.7 On Multiple Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
4.4.8 How to Use an FLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
4.4.9 Connections to the Perceptual Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
4.5 Case Study: Rule-Based Classification of Video Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
4.5.1 Compressed Video Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
4.5.2 High-Level Video Classification Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
4.5.3 Selected Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
4.5.4 MFs for the Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
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4.5.5 Rules and Their Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186


4.5.6 Computational Formulas for the RBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
4.5.7 Optimization of Rule Design Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
4.5.8 Testing the FL RBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
4.5.9 Results and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
4.6 Case Study: Fuzzy Logic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
4.6.1 Early History of Fuzzy Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
4.6.2 What Is a Type-1 Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC)? . . . . . . . . . . . 189
4.6.3 Fuzzy PID Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
4.7 Case Study: Explainable Type-1 Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
4.7.1 Computations Common to Both Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
4.7.2 Mamdani with Centroid Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
4.7.3 Mamdani with COS Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Appendix 1: Constraints Almost Always Satisfied Parameters
for Type-1 Fuzzy Setss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
1.1 Count of MF Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
1.2 T1 MF Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
1.3 Determine If Satisfying All of the Constraints Is Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
1.4 Constraints Almost Always-Satisfied Parameters (CAASPs) . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
1.5 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
1.6 Optimizing T1 MF Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Appendix 2 Proof of Theorem 4.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
5 Sources of Uncertainty and Membership Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.1 Uncertainties in a Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.1.1 Uncertainty: General Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
5.1.2 Uncertainties and Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
5.1.3 Uncertainties in a Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
5.2 Words Mean Different Things to Different People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
5.2.1 Collecting Word Data by Means of a Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
5.2.2 Making Use of Word Uncertainties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
5.2.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
5.3 Words Must Also Mean Similar Things to Different People . . . . . . . . . . . 227
5.3.1 Probability-Based Solution of (5.1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
5.3.2 Iterative Solution of (5.1)s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
5.3.3 Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
5.4 From Interval Data to a T1 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
5.4.1 Mean and Standard Deviation for Each Data Interval . . . . . . . . 231
5.4.2 T1 FS Models and Their Mean and Standard Deviation . . . . . . 231
5.4.3 Computation of MF Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
5.4.4 Choice of T1 MF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
5.4.5 Ensemble of T1 MFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
6 Type-2 Fuzzy Sets Including Word Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.1 The Concept of a Type-2 Fuzzy Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
6.2 Definitions of a General Type-2 Fuzzy Set and Associated Concepts . . . . 238
6.3 Definitions of an IT2 FS and Associated Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
6.4 Examples of Two Popular FOUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
6.5 Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
6.6 Different Kinds of T2 FSs: Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Contents xvii

6.7 Mathematical Representations for T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259


6.7.1 Vertical Slice Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
6.7.2 Wavy Slice Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
6.7.3 Horizontal Slice Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
6.7.4 Modeling Secondary MFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
6.8 Representing Non-T2 FSs as T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
6.9 Returning to Linguistic Labels for General T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
6.10 Multivariable Membership Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
6.11 IT2 FS Word Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Appendix 1: Sources for Word Codebooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
7 Working with Type-2 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
7.1 Introduction and Guide for the Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
7.2 Set Theoretic Operations for GT2 FSs Computed by Using the
Extension Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
7.2.1 Union of GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
7.2.2 Intersection of GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
7.2.3 Complement of a GT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
7.2.4 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
7.3 Set Theoretic Operations for IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.3.1 Union of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.3.2 Intersection of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.3.3 Complement of an IT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7.3.4 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7.4 Set Theoretic Operations for GT2 FSs Computed by Using
Horizontal Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
7.4.1 Union of GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
7.4.2 Intersection of GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
7.4.3 Complement of a GT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
7.4.4 Historical Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
7.5 Observations About Set Theory Computations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
7.6 Relations in General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
7.7 Type-2 Relations and Compositions on the Same Product Space . . . . . . . 305
7.8 Type-2 Relations and Compositions on Different Product Spaces . . . . . . . 307
7.9 Compositions of a T2 FS with a Type-2 Relation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.10 Type-2 Hedgess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
7.11 Extension Principle for T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
7.11.1 Extension Principle for IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
7.11.2 Extension Principle for GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.12 Functions of GT2 FSs Computed by Using α-Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.13 Cartesian Product of T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.14 Implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Appendix 1: Proofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
1.1 Proof of Theorem 7.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
1.2 Proof of Theorem 7.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
1.3 Proof of Theorem 7.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
1.4 Proof of Theorem 7.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
1.5 Proof of Theorem 7.7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
1.6 Proof of Theorem 7.8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
1.7 Proof of Theorem 7.11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
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1.8 Proof of Theorem 7.12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318


1.9 Proof of Theorem 7.14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
1.10 Proof of Theorem 7.17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Appendix 2: Properties of Type-2 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
2.1 Laws That Are Satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
2.2 Laws That Are Not Satisfied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Appendix 3: Derivations of Union, Intersection, and Complement
of IT2 FSs Using T1 FS Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
3.1 Derivation of the Union of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
3.2 Derivation of the Intersection of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
3.3 Derivation of the Complement of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
3.4 Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Appendix 4: Cardinality and Similarity of T2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
4.1 Cardinality of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
4.2 Similarity of IT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
4.3 Similarity of GT2 FSs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
4.4 Similarity of 32 Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
8 Type-Reduction: Uncertainty Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
8.2 Interval Weighted Average (IWA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
8.2.1 Formulation of the IWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
8.2.2 Computing the IWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
8.2.3 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.3 Centroid Type-Reduction for IT2 Fuzzy Sets: A Measure
of Uncertainty for IT2 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.3.1 Centroid of an IT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.3.2 Properties of the Centroid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
8.3.3 Remarks and Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
8.4 Variance of an IT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
8.5 Centroid Type-Reduction for GT2 FSs: A Measure
of Uncertainty for GT2 Fuzzy Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
8.5.1 Centroid of a GT2 Fuzzy Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
8.5.2 Properties of the Centroid of a GT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
8.5.3 A Summary Interval Centroid Uncertainty Measure . . . . . . . . . 365
8.5.4 More Efficient Ways to Compute CA~ ðxÞ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
8.6 Variance of a GT2 FS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Appendix 1: A Wavy Slice Approach to Centroid Type-Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Appendix 2: Other Type-Reduction Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
2.1 Algorithms That Require Sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
2.2 Algorithms That Don’t Require Sorting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Appendix 3: Type-Reduction Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
3.1 Properties of the IWA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
3.2 Continuous KM Algorithms for the Centroid of an IT2 FS
and Its Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
9 Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
9.2 Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Contents xix

9.3 Fuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387


9.4 Fuzzy Inference Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
9.4.1 General Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
9.4.2 Fuzzification and Its Effects on Inference for IT2 Fuzzy
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
9.5 Combining Fired Rule Output Sets on the Way to Defuzzification . . . . . . 402
9.5.1 Combining Using Set Theoretic Operations in an IT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
9.5.2 Combining During Defuzzification in an IT2 Mamdani Fuzzy
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
9.6 Type-Reduction + Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
9.6.1 Centroid Type-Reduction + Defuzzification for an IT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
9.6.2 Height Type-Reduction + Defuzzification for an IT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
9.6.3 COS Type-Reduction + Defuzzification for an IT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
9.6.4 Type-Reduction + Defuzzification Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
9.6.5 Type-Reduction + Defuzzification for an IT2 TSK Fuzzy
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
9.7 Comprehensive Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
9.8 Approximate Type-Reduction + Defuzzification (Wu-Mendel
Uncertainty Bounds) for IT2 Mamdani Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
9.9 Direct Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
9.9.1 Nie-Tan (NT) Direct Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
9.9.2 Biglarbegian-Melek-Mendel (BMM) Direct Defuzzification . . . 420
9.10 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
9.11 Comprehensive Example Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
9.12 IT2 Fuzzy Basis Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
9.13 Sculpting the State Space and the Potential for Improved Performance
Over a Type-1 Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
9.13.1 Course Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
9.13.2 Fine Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
9.13.3 Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
9.13.4 Novelty Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
9.14 Remarks and Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
9.14.1 Unique Features of IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
9.14.2 Layered Architecture Interpretations of an IT2 Fuzzy System . . 430
9.14.3 Functional Equivalence to Other Machine Learning Methods . . 431
9.14.4 Universal Approximation by IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 431
9.14.5 Continuity of IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
9.14.6 Rule Explosion and Some Ways to Control It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
9.14.7 Interpretable and Explainable IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . 435
9.14.8 A Top-Down Approach to IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
9.14.9 Historical Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Appendix 1: Derivations of Results in Corollaries 9.1 and 9.2 Using
Type-1 FS Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Appendix 2: Constructing Interval Type-2 Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
2.1 Singleton Fuzzification: IT2 First-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
2.2 Singleton Fuzzification: IT2 Second-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
2.3 Non-singleton (NS) Fuzzification: IT2 First-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . . . 442
2.4 Non-singleton (NS) Fuzzification: IT2 Second-Order Rule Partitions . . . . . . 443
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2.5 Rule Crossover Phenomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443


Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
10 Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Systems: Design Methods and Case Studies . . . . . . . . . 453
10.1 Designing IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
10.1.1 Design Choices and Complexity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
10.1.2 An Interpretation for the Design of an IT2 Fuzzy System . . . . . 457
10.1.3 Recapitulation of IT2 Mamdani and TSK Fuzzy Systems . . . . . 457
10.1.4 Number of Design Degrees of Freedom and a Design
Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
10.1.5 High-Level Design Statements and Design Approaches . . . . . . . 460
10.2 Some Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
10.2.1 IT2 WM Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
10.2.2 Clustering Using Fuzzy c-Means (FCM)s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
10.2.3 Least-Squares (LS) Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
10.2.4 Derivative-Based Methods (Back-Propagation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464
10.2.5 Derivative-Free Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
10.2.6 Hybrid Design Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
10.2.7 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
10.3 Case Study: Forecasting of Time-Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
10.3.1 Forecasting of Time Series When the Measurement
Noise Is Stationary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472
10.3.2 Forecasting of Time Series When the Measurement
Noise Is Nonstationary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
10.4 Case Study: Knowledge Mining Using Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 477
10.4.1 Determining the IT2 FSs for the Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478
10.4.2 What Does One Do with a Histogram of Responses? . . . . . . . . 480
10.4.3 IT2 Consensus FLAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
10.4.4 Remark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
10.4.5 How to Use the IT2 FLA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
10.4.6 Connections to the Perceptual Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
10.5 Case Study: IT2 Rule-Based Classification of Video Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . 489
10.5.1 FOUs for the Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
10.5.2 Rules and Their Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
10.5.3 Fuzzifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
10.5.4 Computational Formulas for the IT2 RBCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
10.5.5 Optimization of the Rule Design Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
10.5.6 Results and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
10.6 Case Study: IT2 Fuzzy Logic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
10.6.1 What Is an IT2 Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC)? . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
10.6.2 IT2 Fuzzy PID Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
10.6.3 Simulation Results (IT2-PID Versus T1-FPID and PID) . . . . . . 494
10.7 Case Study: Explainable IT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
10.7.1 Firing Intervals for the Active Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
10.7.2 Computation of yCOS(2.4, 5.4, 9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
10.7.3 Explaining yCOS(2.4, 5.4, 9) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505
10.8 Other Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Appendix 1: Constraints Almost Always Satisfied Parameters for IT2
Fuzzy Setss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
1.1 Count of FOU Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
1.2 FOU Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
1.3 Determine if Satisfying All of the Constraints Is Possible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510
Contents xxi

1.4 Constraints Almost Always-Satisfied Parameters (CAASPs) . . . . . . . . . . . . 510


1.5 Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512
1.6 Optimizing FOU Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
11 General Type-2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
11.2 Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
11.3 Fuzzifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
11.4 Fuzzy Inference Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 523
11.5 Combining Fired-Rule Output Sets on the Way to Defuzzification . . . . . . 527
11.5.1 Combining Using Set Theoretic Operations in a WH GT2
Mamdani Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
11.5.2 Combining During Defuzzification in a WH GT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
11.6 Type-Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
11.6.1 Centroid Type-Reduction for a WH GT2 Mamdani Fuzzy
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
11.6.2 Center-of Sets Type-Reduction for a WH GT2 Mamdani
Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
11.6.3 Type-Reduction for a WH GT2 TSK Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . 530
11.7 Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
11.7.1 Approximation and Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
11.7.2 End-Points Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
11.7.3 Average of End-Points Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
11.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
11.8.1 WH GT2 Mamdani Fuzzy System that Uses Centroid Type-
Reduction + Average of End-Points Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . 535
11.8.2 WH GT2 Mamdani Fuzzy System that Uses COS Type-
Reduction + Average of End-Points Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . 536
11.8.3 Unnormalized A2-C0 WH GT2 TSK Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . 536
11.8.4 Normalized A2-C0 WH GT2 TSK Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . 536
11.9 Comprehensive Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
11.10 Direct Defuzzification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 541
11.10.1 Proposed WH–NT Direct Defuzzifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
11.10.2 Proposed WH–BMM Direct Defuzzifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
11.11 Comprehensive Example Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
11.12 GT2 Fuzzy Basis Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
11.13 Sculpting the State Space and the Potential for Improved Performance
Over an IT2 Fuzzy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
11.13.1 Course Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
11.13.2 Fine Sculpting of the State Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
11.13.3 Novelty Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
11.13.4 Summary for Explaining the Potential for Performance
Improvement as One Goes from Crisp to T1 to IT2
to WH GT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
11.14 Remarks and Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
11.15 Designing WH GT2 Fuzzy Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
11.15.1 Design Choices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
11.15.2 High-Level Design Statement and Design Approaches . . . . . . . 558
11.15.3 A Particle-Based Design Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
11.16 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561
xxii Contents

11.17 Case Study: WH GT2 Fuzzy Logic Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562


11.17.1 What is a GT2 FLC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
11.17.2 System Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
11.17.3 Controller Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
11.17.4 Simulation Results (WH GT2 FPID Versus IT2 FPID
Versus T1 FPID and PID) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
About the Author

Jerry M. Mendel received the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic
Institute of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY. Currently, he is Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engi-
neering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where he worked for 44 years.
He has published close to 600 technical papers and is author and/or co-author of 12 books,
including Uncertain Rule-Based Fuzzy Logic Systems: Introduction and New Directions
(Prentice-Hall, 2001), Perceptual Computing: Aiding People in Making Subjective Judgments
(Wiley and IEEE Press, 2010), Introduction to Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Control: Theory and
Application (Wiley & IEEE Press, 2014), and Uncertain Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems: Introduc-
tion and New Directions, 2nd ed. (Springer, 2017). He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, a
Distinguished Member of the IEEE Control Systems Society, and a Fellow of the International
Fuzzy Systems Association and the Asia-Pacific AI Association. He was President of the IEEE
Control Systems Society in 1986, a member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE
Computational Intelligence Society for nine years, and Chairman of its Fuzzy Systems Techni-
cal Committee and the Computing with Words Task Force of that TC. Among his awards are
the 1983 Best Transactions Paper Award of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society,
the 1992 Signal Processing Society Paper Award, the 2002 and 2014 Transactions on Fuzzy
Systems Outstanding Paper Awards, a 1984 IEEE Centennial Medal, an IEEE Third Millen-
nium Medal, a Fuzzy Systems Pioneer Award (2008) from the IEEE Computational Intelli-
gence Society for fundamental theoretical contributions and seminal results in fuzzy systems,
and the 2021 IEEE Lotfi A. Zadeh Pioneer Award for developing and promoting type-2 fuzzy
logic. As of August 11, 2023, his publications have been cited (Google Scholar) more than
64,500 times, with an h-index of 100 and an i10-index of 323.

xxiii
Introduction
1

1.1 What This Book Is About

This book is about rule-based systems that can be used to solve a broad range of problems, from forecasting, to classification,
to diagnosis, to judgment making, to control, etc.

1.1.1 Rules

A rule has the structure “IF p THEN q,” in which p is called the rule’s antecedent and q is called the rule’s consequent. A rule-
based system begins with a collection of such rules, either provided by one or more domain experts or extracted from domain-
specific data. Rule antecedents are in terms of variables that can be observed or measured and are denoted xi (i = 1, . . ., p).
Each rule tells us something about a desired output, denoted y.
To keep things as simple as possible in this discussion, here are three expert-based rules for when to adjust an
air-conditioning (AC) unit, in which there is only one antecedent variable, x = temperature, and one output,
y = AC adjustment:

IF x is moderate, THEN y = adjust the AC to around low


IF x is high, THEN y = adjust the AC to moderate to high ð1:1Þ
IF x is very high, THEN y = adjust the AC to around high

A rule-based AC adjustment system would be implemented in software or hardware, is activated by measured values of
temperature, and automatically adjusts the AC level.
The first thing to notice from the rules in (1.1) is that they use linguistic terms (words) for both temperature and the AC
adjustment. Since software and hardware deal with numbers and not words, there seems to be a big mismatch between the
statement of the rules in (1.1) and being able to implement them so that a measured value of temperature leads to an AC
adjustment. Mathematics is needed to quantify these rules and to process a measured value of temperature into a numerical AC
adjustment. This book provides this mathematics.
The second thing to notice from the rules in (1.1) is that the words used in the rules are not very precise, for example, what
does “moderate temperature” mean, or “around low”? Actually, these terms can mean different things to different people and
so linguistic uncertainties are present in these rules. Mathematical models are needed that capture linguistic uncertainties. This
book provides such mathematical models.
The third thing to notice from these rules is that measurements of temperature (that will activate these rules) may be
inaccurate, and so mathematical models are needed that account for such inaccuracies. This book also provides the
mathematical models to do this.
The fourth thing to notice from these rules is that the words moderate, high, and very high partition temperature into three
regions, and so regardless of the nature of rule’s consequents (which in other applications could be numbers, functions,

# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024 1


J. M. Mendel, Explainable Uncertain Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35378-9_1
2 1 Introduction

categories, words or a mixture of these), the rules that are considered in this book begin by partitioning their inputs over their
application-dependent domains. Each consequent fills a rule’s specific partition with a number, function, category, or word.

1.1.2 Partitions and Sets1

Partitions come in different guises. Four different kinds of partitions of temperature, called uncertainty partitions, are depicted
in Fig. 1.1. The horizontal axis of each figure is a variable (such as temperature), and the vertical axis of this figure is the
degree of belonging (which is scaled between zero and unity) of each x in a partition, which is also called the membership of
x in a partition.

1.1.2.1 Crisp Partitions


Suppose, for example, that the domain of x is partitioned, as in Fig. 1.1a, in agreement with (1.1) into three regions [moderate
(M), high (H), and very high (VH)], where the dividing point between each partition is known exactly, in which case no
uncertainty exists about x = a, b, c, or d. Each of the intervals [a, b], (b, c], (c, d] is a crisp partition, and a given value of x can
only reside in one of them with full membership in it [which is why the degree of membership in Wi, μW i ðxÞ, is always unity].
Additionally, each crisp partition is associated with a linguistic term, M or H or VH, and there is always a sharp transition from
one term to the next at x = b or c.

Definition 1.1 A crisp partition (zero-order uncertainty partition) of the real variable, x, partitions it into nonoverlapping
adjacent regions that are intervals of real numbers, where the degree of membership in each region is 1.

As will be seen in Chap. 2, crisp partitions can be described mathematically using classical (crisp) sets. They suffice in
some situations, but they do not permit any uncertainty about x = a, b, c, or d.

1.1.2.2 First-Order Uncertainty Partitions


Suppose next that one wants a model that permits uncertainty about x = a, b, or c (for the purposes of this discussion, there is
no uncertainty about d; for example, for the AC example, d  48 ° C). This uncertainty can be expressed by letting all numbers
about which there is uncertainty become an interval of numbers, that is, a → [al, ar], b → [bl, br] and c → [cl, cr]. Figure 1.1a
now changes to Fig. 1.1b. Each of the intervals [a, br], [bl, cr], and [cl, d] is associated with the regions M, H, and VH,
respectively, and can be called a first-order uncertainty partition. Observe in Fig. 1.1b that:

• For x 2 [al, ar], x is in the region called M and its degree of membership in M rises from a value of 0 when x = al to a value
of 1 when x = ar; it is the nonunity value of the degree of membership of x 2 [al, ar) that models the first-order uncertainty
about a.
• For x 2 [ar, bl], x is in the region called M and its degree of membership in M is 1, so there is no uncertainty about x being in
region M when x 2 [ar, bl]; by comparing Fig. 1.1a, b, observe that first-order uncertainty about a reduces the length of the
interval of no uncertainty about being in region M, i.e. jbl - ar j < j b - aj.
• For x 2 [bl, br], x is simultaneously in the regions called M and H, but to different degrees of membership (except at the
single point where the positive-sloping and negative-sloping lines intersect); it is the nonunity value of the degree of
membership of x 2 [bl, br) that models the uncertainty about point b, but in Fig. 1.1a, because point b separates the regions
M and H, when b → [bl, br], both of these regions inherit some of the first-order uncertainty about b.
• For x 2 [br, cl], x is in the region called H and its degree of membership in H is 1, so there is no uncertainty about x being in
region H when x 2 [br, cl]; by comparing Fig. 1.1a, b, observe that first-order uncertainties about points b and c reduce the
length of the interval of no uncertainty about being in region H, that is, jcl - br j < j c - bj.
• For x 2 [cl, cr], x is simultaneously in the regions called H and VH, but to different degrees of membership (except at the
single point where the positive-sloping and negative-sloping lines intersect); it is the nonunity value of the degree of
membership of x 2 [cl, cr) that models the uncertainty about point c, but in Fig. 1.1a, because point c separates the
regions H and VH, when c → [cl, cr], both of these regions inherit some of the first-order uncertainty about c.

1
Definitions 1.1–1.5 are adapted from Mendel (2018, Definitions 1–5).
1.1 What This Book Is About 3

µW (x) µW (x)
i i
M H VH M H VH
1 1

x x
a b c d al a ar bl b br cl c cr d
(a) (b)

µW (x) µW (x)
i i
M H VH M H VH
1 1

x x
al a ar bl b br cl c cr d al a ar bl b br cl c cr d
al1 al 2 ar1ar 2 bl1 bl 2 br1 br 2 cl1 cl 2 cr1cr 2 al1al 2 ar1ar 2 bl1 bl 2 br1 br 2 cl1 cl 2 cr1cr 2
(c) (d)

Fig. 1.1 Four kinds of uncertainty partitions: (a) crisp, (b) first-order uncertainty, (c) second-order uncertainty with uniform weighting, and (d)
second-order uncertainty with non-uniform weighting. Wi denotes the ith word, where W1 = M, W2 = H and W3 = VH

• For x 2 [cr, d], x is in the region called VH and its degree of membership in VH is 1, so there is no uncertainty about x being
in region VH when x 2 [cr, d]; by comparing Fig. 1.1a, b, observe that first-order uncertainty about point c reduces the
length of the interval of no uncertainty about being in region VH, that is, jd - cr2 j < jd - crj.

Definition 1.2 A first-order uncertainty partition of the real variable, x, partitions it into overlapping intervals, where one is
absolutely certain about where the overlap begins and ends so that the degree of membership in each region of overlap is a real
number that is an element of [0, 1].

As will be seen in Chap. 2, first-order uncertainty partitions can be described mathematically using type-1 fuzzy sets.
Overlapping end-point intervals lead to smooth transitions from one region (linguistic term) to another, which is very
different from the sharp transitions that occur when crisp partitions are used. First-order uncertainty partitions suffice in many
situations, but they do not allow for any uncertainty about the overlap.

1.1.2.3 Second-Order Uncertainty Partitions: Uniformly Weighted


Uncertainty about the interval end-points of a first-order uncertainty partition is called second-order uncertainty; it can once
again be expressed by letting all numbers about which there is uncertainty become an interval of numbers, that is
a → [[al1, al2], [ar1, ar2]], b → [[bl1, bl2], [br1, br2]], and c → [[cl1, cl2], [cr1, cr2]]. Fig. 1.1b now changes to Fig. 1.1c.
Each of the intervals [al1, br2], [bl1, cr2], and [cl1, d] is associated with the regions M, H, and VH, respectively, and can be
called a uniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partition (the uniform weighting is depicted by using the same color for
every element in each interval). Observe in Fig. 1.1c that:

• For x 2 [al1, ar2], x is in the region called M and its degree of membership in M is a uniformly-weighted interval of values;
it is the interval nature of the degree of membership of x 2 (al1, ar2) that models the second-order uncertainty about a.
4 1 Introduction

• For x 2 [ar2, bl1], x is in the region called M and its degree of membership in M is 1, so there is no uncertainty about x being
in region M when x 2 [ar2, bl1]; by comparing Fig. 1.1b, c, observe that second-order uncertainty about a further reduces
the length of the interval of no uncertainty about being in region M, i.e. jbl1 - ar2 j < j bl - arj.
• For x 2 [bl1, br2], x is simultaneously in the regions called M and H, but to different uniformly-weighted interval-valued
degrees of membership; it is the interval nature of the degree of membership of x 2 (bl1, br2) that models the second-order
uncertainty about point b, but in Fig. 1.1a, because point b separates the regions M and H, when b → [[bl1, bl2], [br1, br2]],
both of these regions inherit some of the second-order uncertainty about b.
• For x 2 [br2, cl1], x is in the region called H and its degree of membership is 1, so there is no uncertainty about x being in
region H when x 2 [br2, cl1]; by comparing Fig. 1.1b, c, observe that second-order uncertainty about points b and c further
reduces the length of the interval of no uncertainty about being in region H, that is, jcl1 - br2 j < j cl - brj,
• For x 2 [cl1, cr2], x is simultaneously in the regions called H and VH, but to different uniformly weighted interval-valued
degrees of membership; it is the interval nature of the degree of membership of x 2 (cl1, cr2) that models the second-order
uncertainty about point c, but in Fig. 1.1a, because point c separates the regions H and VH, when c → [[cl1, cl2], [cr1, cr2]],
both of these regions inherit some of the second-order uncertainty about c.
• For x 2 [cr2, d], x is in the region called VH and its degree of membership in VH is 1, so there is no uncertainty about
x being in region VH when x 2 [cr2, d]; by comparing Fig. 1.1a, b, observe that second-order uncertainty about point
c further reduces the length of the interval of no uncertainty about being in region VH, that is, jd - cr2 j < j d - crj.

Definition 1.3 A uniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partition of the real variable, x, partitions it into overlapping
intervals, where one is unsure about where the overlap begins and ends so that the degree of membership in each region of
overlap is a uniformly weighted interval of real numbers that is a subset of [0, 1].

As will be seen in Chap. 6, uniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partitions can be described mathematically using
interval type-2 fuzzy sets.

1.1.2.4 Second-Order Uncertainty Partitions: Nonuniformly Weighted


Figure 1.1d is almost the same as Fig. 1.1c, except that each shaded region is nonuniformly shaded to indicate that there is
uncertainty about each of its elements.

Definition 1.4 A non-uniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partition of the real variable, x, partitions it into
overlapping intervals, where one is again unsure about where the overlap begins and ends, but now the degree of membership
in each region of overlap is a nonuniformly weighted interval of real numbers that is a subset of [0, 1].

As will be seen in Chap. 6, nonuniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partitions can be described mathematically
using general type-2 fuzzy sets.

1.1.2.5 Footprint of Uncertainty (FOU)

Definition 1.5 Each region in X × μW i ðxÞ , in which the degree of membership is an interval of real numbers, is called the
footprint of uncertainty (FOU), and it can be weighted uniformly or nonuniformly.

Uniformly weighted FOUs are associated with interval type-2 fuzzy sets, whereas non-uniformly-weighted FOUs are
associated with general type-2 fuzzy sets.
Note that the FOU is formally defined in Chap. 6, and many examples of them are given in that chapter.

1.1.2.6 Comments
Readers are no doubt already anticipating additional levels of uncertainty, along the lines just given, for example,
b → ½bl1l , bl1r , bl2l , bl2r , ½br1l , br1r , br2l , br2r . However, because
1.2 The Structure of a Rule-Based Fuzzy System 5

½bl1l , bl1r , bl2l , bl2r , ½br1l , br1r , br2l , br2r ⟺ ½bl1l , bl2r , br1l , br2r ð1:2Þ

a second-order uncertainty model suffices.2


It is one thing to describe the different kinds of uncertainty models using simple pictures, as has just been done, but it is
another thing to do all of this using mathematics, which is what needs to be done in order to implement a rule-based system.
The really good news is that one does not need to invent new mathematics to do all of this; it already exists and is set theory.
Crisp partitions and operations on them can be described mathematically using classical (crisp) sets and their associated set
theory; first-order uncertainty partitions and operations on them can be described mathematically using classical (type-1)
fuzzy sets and their associated set theory; uniformly weighted second-order uncertainty partitions and operations on them can
be described mathematically using interval type-2 fuzzy sets and their associated set theory; and nonuniformly weighted
second-order uncertainty partitions and operations on them can be described mathematically using general type-2 fuzzy sets
and their associated set theory. This book covers all of these set-theoretic models, but places almost all of its emphasis on the
three kinds of fuzzy set models, because it is only those models that handle (model) uncertainty about sets.
This book’s approach to covering these set theory models is bottom-up. Classical sets will be shown to give rise to type-1
fuzzy sets, which in turn give rise to interval type-2 fuzzy sets, which in turn give rise to general type-2 fuzzy sets. Knowledge
learned about, and algorithms developed for a lower-level set will be used by a higher-level set, and so the time and effort
spent learning about a lower-level set will be well spent.

Example 1.1 Some people may object in principle to using fuzzy sets instead of the more classical crisp sets. For the purposes
of this example, a fuzzy set can be treated as one whose members have a membership grade in it that can be a real number in
[0, 1], whereas the members of a crisp set have a membership grade in it of unity or out of it of zero. To dispel the notion of
crispness, a collection of terms is listed in Table 1.1; these terms are widely used in control, signal processing, and
communications. While one frequently strives for crisp values of these terms, one usually uses them in contexts where the
linguistic terms actually convey more useful information than would a crisp value.

Correlation is an interesting example, because it can be defined mathematically so that, for a given set of data, one can
compute a crisp number for it. Let’s assume that correlation has been normalized so that it can range between zero and unity
and that for a given set of data one computes the correlation value as 0.15. When explaining the amount of data correlation to
someone else, it is usually more meaningful to explain it as “these data have low correlation.” Doing this, one is actually
fuzzifying the crisp value of 0.15 into the fuzzy set “low correlation.”
Stability is another very interesting example. A system is either stable or not stable; there is nothing fuzzy about this.
However, if the system is stable, one frequently describes its degree of relative stability using any of the terms listed in
Table 1.1. These terms may be more meaningful than the following description: The system has four complex poles, and the
effective damping ratio for the system is 0.3. Just describe the response of such a system as “lightly damped.” Doing this, one
is fuzzifying the crisp value of 0.3 into the fuzzy set “lightly damped.”

1.2 The Structure of a Rule-Based Fuzzy System

A rule-based fuzzy system contains four components—rules, fuzzifier, inference, and output processor—that are
interconnected as shown in Fig. 1.2. Once the rules have been established, the fuzzy system can be viewed as a mapping
from inputs to outputs (the red path in Fig. 1.2), and this mapping can be expressed quantitatively as y = f(x). This fuzzy
system is also known as a fuzzy logic system (Mendel 2001), fuzzy-rule-based system, fuzzy expert system, fuzzy model, or
fuzzy logic controller (Jang and Sun 1995; Jang et al. 1997). In this book, rule-based fuzzy system is shortened to fuzzy system.
Rules are the heart of a fuzzy system, and, as already mentioned, they are either provided by one or more domain experts or
extracted from domain-specific data. Fuzzy sets model the linguistic terms that appear in the antecedents or consequents of
rules. When type-1 fuzzy sets are used, the fuzzy system is called a type-1 fuzzy system; when at least one interval type-2 fuzzy
set is used, the fuzzy system is called an interval type-2 fuzzy system; and, when at least one general type-2 fuzzy set is used,
the fuzzy system is called a general type-2 fuzzy system. Regardless of what kinds of fuzzy sets are used to model the

2
It is conceivable that uncertainty about the filling of the FOU could lead to higher than second-order uncertainty about the FOU. See footnote 2 in
Chap. 6.
6 1 Introduction

Table 1.1 Engineering terms whose contextual usage is usually quite fuzzy
Term Contextual usage
Alias None, a bit, high
Bandwidth Narrowband, broadband
Blur Somewhat, quite, very
Correlation Low, medium, high, perfect
Errors Large, medium, small, a lot of, not so great, very large, very small, almost zero
Frequency Low, high, ultra-high
Resolution Low, medium, high
Sampling Low-rate, medium-rate, high-rate, very high-rate
Stability Stable (lightly damped, highly damped, over damped, critically damped), unstable
(Mendel, 1995), # 1995, IEEE

Fig. 1.2 Fuzzy system Fuzzy System

Rules

Crisp Output Outputs:


Fuzzifier
inputs Processor numbers (y)
x or words (W)

Fuzzy Fuzzy
Inference
input sets output sets

y = f (x)

antecedents or consequents, the rules remain the same. Paraphrasing the American author Gertrude Stein, who wrote “A rose
is a rose is a rose. . . is a rose,” one can say that “A rule is a rule is a rule . . . is a rule.”
Rules are quantified using the mathematics of fuzzy sets, and mathematics is different for type-1, interval type-1, and
general type-2 fuzzy sets. The quantified rules do nothing until they are activated by measured values of their antecedent
variables (in much the same way that an automobile does nothing until its engine is turned on and gasoline is injected into it).
It is this activation that leads to the outputs of the fuzzy system.
The activation of the fuzzy system begins with measured values of the inputs fxi gpi = 1  x. These measured values are real
numbers,3 and to make them mathematically commensurate with the antecedents of the rules, which have been modeled as
fuzzy sets, each xi has to be converted into a fuzzy set (so that one can then get to the rule’s consequent). This is done by the
fuzzifier block in Fig. 1.2 and is called fuzzification. For a type-1 fuzzy system, the fuzzifier maps each xi into a type-1 fuzzy
set; for an interval type-2 fuzzy system, the fuzzifier maps each xi into an interval type-2 fuzzy set; and for a general type-
2 fuzzy system, the fuzzifier maps each xi into a general type-2 fuzzy set. Fuzzification also depends on whether or not xi is
measured perfectly or if the measurements are corrupted by noise, and in the latter case, if the noise is stationary or
nonstationary.
The inference block (also called an inference engine) maps fuzzy sets into fuzzy sets,4 and this mapping is different for
type-1, interval type-2, or general type-2 fuzzy systems. The original fuzzy logic mechanisms for inference were motivated by
the inference mechanisms of classical (crisp) logic; however, because the latter mechanisms had problems when they were
converted to fuzzy logic inference mechanisms (this is explained in Sect. 2.17), they were modified to make them more
practical for real-world applications.5 Because the modified inference mechanisms no longer have a strong direct connection
to logic, the phrase “fuzzy logic system,” which was used throughout the first edition of this book (Mendel 2001), has been
shortened in this book (as it was in the second edition) to “fuzzy system.”

3
Dick (2005) and Chen et al. (2010) develop fuzzy systems for complex numbers, but such systems are beyond the scope of this book.
4
Stating that the outputs of the inference engine are fuzzy sets is very general and is meant to include everything from numbers, to intervals, to type-1
fuzzy sets, to interval type-2 fuzzy sets, and to general type-2 fuzzy sets. This will be clarified in Chaps. 3, 9, and 11, respectively.
5
The unmodified fuzzy logic inference mechanisms are still being used, for example, in approximate reasoning applications, but their use is outside
of the scope of this book.
1.4 Fundamental Design Requirement 7

More than one rule can be fired by the inference engine due to overlapping fuzzy sets (Fig. 1.1b–d), so a decision must be
made about what to do when this occurs. One approach is to combine the outputs of the fired rules, whereas another approach
is not to do this. In this book it is assumed that the choice about what to do when more than one rule is fired is made ahead of
time by the end-user as part of the design of a fuzzy system, and that this decision is then incorporated into the inference
engine.
In many real-world applications of a fuzzy system, crisp numbers must be obtained at its output, for example, in a control
system application, such a number could correspond to a control action, and in a data processing application, such a number
could correspond to the prediction of next year’s sunspot activity, or to a financial forecast, or to the location of a target, or to
the classification of an individual as a terrorist, etc. Obtaining a crisp number at the output of a fuzzy system is accomplished
in the output processor block. For a type-1 fuzzy system, output processing is done in one stage called defuzzification and is a
mapping from a type-1 fuzzy set into a number. For a type-2 fuzzy system, there can be two different kinds of output
processors: (1) a two-stage processor in which type-2 fuzzy sets are first converted into type-1 fuzzy sets, by a process called
type-reduction, after which the resulting type-1 fuzzy sets are defuzzified; and (2) a one-stage processor called direct
defuzzification, in which type-2 fuzzy sets are directly defuzzified into a number.
Figure 1.2 shows that the output of a fuzzy system can also be a word. Such an output is popular when a rule-based system
is used in real-world applications having to do with subjective judgment making (e.g., level of pollution occurring in an
environmental situation). For such applications, the output processor has to map the fuzzy set or sets that are at the output of
the inference block back into a linguistic term. This kind of output processing is sometimes called decoding [e.g., Mendel and
Wu (2010)].

1.3 A New Direction for Fuzzy Systems

Type-2 fuzzy systems move the world of fuzzy systems into a fundamentally new and important direction. What is this new
direction and why is it important? To make the answers to these questions as clear as possible, consider the following brief
digression that reviews some things that are, no doubt, familiar to the reader.
Probability theory is used to model random uncertainty, and within that theory, one begins with a probability density
function (pdf) that embodies total information about random uncertainties. In most practical real-world applications, it is
impossible to know or determine the pdf, so one falls back on using the fact that a pdf is completely characterized by all of its
moments (if they exist). If the pdf is Gaussian, then, as is well known, two moments—the mean and variance—suffice to
completely specify it. For most pdfs, an infinite number of moments are required. Of course, it is not possible, in practice, to
determine an infinite number of moments; so, instead, one computes as many moments as are believed to be necessary to
extract as much information as possible from the data. At the very least, one uses two moments, the mean and variance, and in
some cases, even higher-than-second-order moments are used.
To use just the first-order moments would not be very useful, because random uncertainty requires an understanding of
(at the very least) dispersion about the mean, and this information is provided by the variance. So, the accepted probabilistic
modeling of random uncertainty focuses to a large extent on methods that use at least the first two moments of a pdf. This is,
for example, why designs based on minimizing a mean-squared error are so popular.
Should one expect any less of a fuzzy system for linguistic uncertainties or any other types of uncertainties? To date, the
output of a type-1 fuzzy system may be viewed as analogous to the mean of a pdf. Just as variance provides a measure of
dispersion about the mean and is almost always used to capture more about probabilistic uncertainty in practical statistical-
based designs, a fuzzy system also needs some measure of dispersion—the new direction—to capture more about its
uncertainties than just a single number. Type-2 fuzzy sets provide this measure of dispersion and (I hope to convince you)
seem to be as fundamental to the design of systems which include linguistic and/or numerical uncertainties that translate into
rule (antecedent or consequent) or input uncertainties, as variance is to the mean—the importance of the new direction.

1.4 Fundamental Design Requirement

Behind everything that is done in this book is the following fundamental design requirement (Karnik and Mendel 1998a, b):
When all sources of membership function uncertainty disappear, a type-2 fuzzy set must reduce to a type-1 fuzzy set, and a type-2 fuzzy
system must reduce to a comparable type-1 fuzzy system.
8 1 Introduction

So, for example, when all uncertainty disappears, the extended sup-star composition (Chap. 7) reduces to the usual sup-star
composition (Chap. 2) and type-reduction (Chap. 8) reduces to defuzzification (Chap. 3). In this way, a type-2 fuzzy system
represents a generalization of a type-1 fuzzy system and not a replacement.
This design requirement is analogous to what happens to a probability density function when random uncertainties
disappear. In that case, the variance of the pdf goes to zero, and a probability analysis reduces to a deterministic analysis.
So, just as the capability for a deterministic analysis is embedded within a probability analysis, the capability for a type-1
fuzzy system is embedded within a type-2 fuzzy system.

1.5 Advisable Design Approaches

The following design approaches are highly recommended for fuzzy systems:

1. Begin with the simplest fuzzy system and increase the complexity of such systems gradually: It will be demonstrated in later
chapters that fuzzy systems are nonlinear systems, with interval type-2 fuzzy systems more nonlinear and complicated than
type-1 fuzzy systems, and general type-2 fuzzy systems even more nonlinear and more complicated than interval type-
2 fuzzy systems. It is advisable to begin with a simple type-1 fuzzy system, increasing its complexity slowly, to see if a
satisfactory design can be achieved by any one of them. If it can be, then your work is done; if it cannot be, then move up to
a simple interval type-2 fuzzy system, again increasing its complexity slowly, to see if a satisfactory design can be achieved
by any one of them. If it can be, then your work is done; if it cannot be, then move up to a simple general type-2 fuzzy
system, increasing its complexity slowly, to see if a satisfactory design can be achieved by any one of them. By using this
staircase approach to design, it should be possible to obtain a satisfactory design and to also demonstrate the performance
improvements as one goes from type-1 to interval type-2 to general type-2 fuzzy systems. Note that what is meant by
“increasing its complexity” is explained in later chapters for type-1, interval type-2, and general type-2 fuzzy systems.
2. Use parsimonious models: Fuzzy sets are parametric models, and as one goes from a type-1 fuzzy set to an interval type-
2 fuzzy set to a general type-2 fuzzy set those models contain more and more parameters. When used in a fuzzy system, of
any kind, numerical values for those parameters have to be provided. More often than not, this is done by means of an
optimization procedure. It is advisable to begin a design by using fuzzy sets that are described by the fewest number of
parameters as possible. Such models are referred to as parsimonious models (see Definition 6.14 and the discussion below
it).
3. Satisfy constraints without giving up performance potential: It will also be demonstrated in later chapters that optimizing
the parameters in a fuzzy system is a constrained optimization problem, and that interval type-2 fuzzy systems have more
constraints than do type-1 fuzzy systems, and general type-2 fuzzy systems have even more constraints than interval type-
2 fuzzy systems. This can already be seen in Fig. 1.1, where, at a very high level, there are shape and overlap constraints
that will have to be preserved during a design. One popular approach to doing this is to fix some (or many) parameters,
thereby converting a constrained optimization problem into an unconstrained problem. While doing this simplifies the
design procedure, it reduces the performance potential for the fuzzy system, because it reduces the number of its design
degrees of freedom. An arguably better approach is to use parameters that are guaranteed to satisfy the constraints and do
not reduce the number of its design degrees of freedom. What such parameters are is also explained in later chapters for
type-1, interval type-2, and general type-2 fuzzy systems.

1.6 Understanding the Potential for Improved Performance

In the early days of fuzzy systems (e.g., the 1970s), arguably exaggerated claims were made for them that were not supported
by rigorous analyses (e.g., they are easier to design, can incorporate expert knowledge, can outperform existing systems) and
created walls between certain technical communities and the fuzzy system’s community, walls that unfortunately exist even to
this day. This book provides a rigorous high-level application-independent approach to understanding and explaining the
potential for improved performance of a type-1 fuzzy system over a nonfuzzy system (Sect. 3.9), an interval type-2 fuzzy
system over a type-1 fuzzy system (Sect. 9.13), and a general type-2 fuzzy system over an interval type-2 fuzzy system (Sect.
11.13). It is hoped that by understanding the potential for improved performance of the different kinds of fuzzy systems in a
rigorous high-level manner, these walls will come down.
1.8 An Impressionistic Brief History of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic 9

1.7 Explainable Fuzzy Systems

During the past few years, an important field called Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) has emerged and is now very
popular. Since this is a book about rule-based fuzzy systems, it is incumbent upon the user of any such system to be able to
explain its output when and if this is necessary. Because fuzzy systems are based upon IF-THEN rules, whose antecedents and
consequents (may) use words, it is believed that these systems are inherently explainable, since explanations use words. This
book examines this belief and provides a detailed methodology for achieving it.
Instead of collecting all of this material in one stand-alone chapter, it is put into a few chapters, because some readers will
only be interested in type-1 fuzzy systems, whereas others will read the entire book. Here is where you can find that material:

• Section 3.10.7: Interpretable and Explainable Type-1 Fuzzy Systems


• Section 4.7: Case Study: Explainable Type-1 Fuzzy Systems
• Section 5.2: Words Mean Different Things to Different People
• Section 5.3: Words Must Also Mean Similar Things to Different People
• Section 5.4: From Interval Data to a Type-1 Fuzzy Set
• Section 6.11: Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Set Word Models
• Appendix 1 to Chap. 6: Sources for Word Codebooks.6
• Section 9.14.7: Interpretable and Explainable Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Systems
• Section 10.7: Case Study: Explainable Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Systems

1.8 An Impressionistic7 Brief History of Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic

Professor Lotfi Zadeh is the founding father of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic (a short biography of him appears in Sect. 2.2.1). His
first seminal paper on fuzzy sets appeared in 1965 (Zadeh 1965), although he began to formulate ideas about them at least
4 years earlier. Fuzzy sets met with great resistance in the West, perhaps because of the negative connotations associated with
the word “fuzzy.” Let’s face it, the word “fuzzy” does not conjure up visions of scientific or mathematical rigor.
After 1965, some people, along with Zadeh, developed the rigorous mathematical foundations of type-1 fuzzy sets and
fuzzy logic. Interestingly enough, Chinese and Japanese researchers devoted a large effort to fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic. A
popular hypothesis for this is that “fuzzy” fits in quite nicely with Eastern philosophies and religions (e.g., the complemen-
tarity of Yin and Yang). But until the early 1970s, fuzzy logic was a theory looking for an application. Then, a major
breakthrough occurred in 1974 and 1975 when Mamdani and Assilian (Mamdani 1974; Mamdani and Assilian 1975) showed
how to use a rule-based fuzzy system to control a nonlinear dynamical system. It was relatively easy to do this, used rules
extracted from experts, and was a fast way to design a control system. Although the design did not lend itself to the well-
accepted, important, critical, and rigorous examinations called for by control theory, it did demonstrate an important real
application for a rule-based fuzzy system.
Other applications of rule-based fuzzy systems began to appear, two very notable ones in Japan—control of the Sendai
cities’ subway system and control of a water treatment system. Commercial products began to appear, for example, fuzzy
washing machine, fuzzy rice cooker, and fuzzy shower. In Japan, the word “fuzzy” took on the connotation of “intelligent,”
and in 1990, Zadeh received a major award. Western industries took notice, and the decade of the 1990s rolled in, during
which fuzzy sets and systems achieved a high degree of acceptability.
The journal Fuzzy Sets and Systems was launched in 1978. In 1992, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE) launched the IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE), and in 1993, the IEEE launched the
IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems. According to an email sent by Prof. Zadeh (dated July 2, 2016), as of 2016, there were
33 journals with fuzzy in their titles. Many other journals also publish articles about fuzzy sets and systems (e.g., Information
Sciences, IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Applied Soft Computing, International Journal of Approximate

6
A word codebook is a collection of the pairs (word, fuzzy set model for the word).
7
In literature, impressionism is a “mode of treatment in which scene, character, and emotion are depicted through the author’s or character’s
impressions rather than by strict objective detail” (New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language, Delair Publ. Co., 1981).
10 1 Introduction

Reasoning, Granular Computing, etc.). There also are many annual international workshops and conferences devoted either
exclusively to or that include sessions on fuzzy technologies.
In 1995, the IEEE awarded Prof. Zadeh its highest honor, its Medal of Honor, which is comparable to the Nobel Prize.
Fuzzy sets and systems are now widely used in many industries and fields to solve practical problems and are still subjects
of intense research by academics all over the world. Although many applications have been found for fuzzy sets and systems,
it is arguably its application to rule-based systems that has most significantly demonstrated its importance as a powerful design
methodology. Such rule-based fuzzy systems are what this book is all about.
If you are interested in a less impressionistic history of fuzzy sets and systems, then see, for example, McNeill and
Freilberger (1992), Wang (1997), or Yen and Langari (1999, pp. 3–18).

1.9 Literature on Type-2 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Systems

Many books have been published that are devoted exclusively to fuzzy sets and systems or have one or more chapters about
them. Since this book is devoted exclusively to them, I want to let you know about the others that are also devoted exclusively
to them. Because there are so many, my criterion for providing the following list is that they either have been cited in Google
Scholar at least 3000 times or have “type-2” in their title.

• The following seven books have been cited in Google Scholar at least 3000 times (as of January 2023) and are in
decreasing order of citations: Klir and Yuan (1995), Dubois and Prade (1980), Ross (2004), Wang (1997), Mendel8 (2001,
2017), and Yager and Filev (1994). The first two books have some very modest discussions about type-2 fuzzy sets; the
third, fourth, and seventh books have nothing about them; and the fifth and sixth books are the first and second editions of
the present book. Except for Mendel (2001, 2017), none of the other books has anything about type-2 fuzzy systems.
• The following books have “type-2” in their titles: Aliev and Guirimov (2014), Castillo (2012), Castillo and Melin (2008,
2012), Cervantes and Castillo (2016), John et al. (2017), Melin (2012), Mendel et al. (2014) and Sadeghian et al. (2013).

When the first edition of this book (Mendel 2001) was being prepared, during the years 1999 and 2000, type-2 fuzzy sets
and systems were in their infancies and there were a relatively small number of articles about them (at the end of the year 2000,
there were only 29 that had anything to do with type-2 fuzzy sets or systems). When the second edition of this book (Mendel
2017) was being prepared, in 2016, there were around 3000 articles that had “type 2 fuzzy” in their titles. During the years
2022 and 2023, when this third edition was prepared, there were close to 6000 articles about them (see Fig. 1 in the Preface).9
Obviously, it is not possible to include all of these references, or to cover all of the novel design approaches that are in some of
them (e.g., Zhang, et al. 2021); so, to those authors whose works have not been included herein, my sincere apologies. Today,
it is very easy to go to the Internet to find all of these articles.
This section briefly reviews the early literature (1975–1992), the literature that was used very heavily when the first edition
of this book was written, and the most cited articles about type-2 fuzzy sets and systems. As one progresses through this book,
the reader will be directed to the many references from the years 2001–2023 that have influenced its writing.

1.9.1 Early Literature: 1975–1992

Zadeh (1975) introduced the concept of fuzzy sets of type-2, later shortened by others to type-2 fuzzy sets, as an extension of an
ordinary fuzzy set, that is, a type-1 fuzzy set. Mizumoto and Tanaka (1976) studied the set theoretic operations of type-2 fuzzy
sets and the properties of membership grades of such sets. Mizumoto and Tanaka (1981) also examined type-2 fuzzy sets
under the operations of algebraic product and algebraic sum. Nieminen (1977) provided more detail about the algebraic
structure of type-2 fuzzy sets. Dubois and Prade (1978, 1979, 1980) discussed fuzzy valued logic and gave a formula for the

8
Google Scholar does not distinguish between the first and second editions of this book.
9
An excellent historical view of type-2 fuzzy sets and systems is John and Coupland (2007). It includes a figure with the number of type-2 related
publications over time from 1976 through 2006 and a figure that depicts a time line of the historical development of type-2 fuzzy sets and systems.
1.9 Literature on Type-2 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Systems 11

composition of type-2 relations as an extension of the type-1 sup-star composition, but their formula is only for the minimum
t-norm. Hisdal (1981) studied rules and interval sets for higher-than-type-1 fuzzy logic.
Zadeh (1975) also introduced the concept of fuzzy sets with interval-value membership functions, later shortened by others
to interval-valued fuzzy sets (IVFS). According to Bustince et al. (2016):
In 1975 Sambuc (1975) presented in his doctoral thesis10 the concepts of an interval-valued fuzzy set named a Φ fuzzy set. In the same year,
Jahn (1975) wrote about the notion of interval-valued fuzzy set. One year later Grattan-Guinness (1976) established the definition of an
interval-valued membership function. In that decade interval-valued fuzzy sets appeared in the literature in various guises and it was not until
the 1980s, with the work of Gorzalczany (1987, 1988, 1989a, b), Dziech and Gorzalczany (1987), Türksen (1986, 1992), Türksen and Yao
(1984) and Türksen and Zhong (1990) that the importance of these sets, as well as their name was definitely established.

The timing (Mendel, 2010) was not so good for these early developers of type-2 fuzzy sets and IVFSs because the world
was paying attention mainly to fuzzy logic control using type-1 fuzzy sets, and these more advanced fuzzy sets seemed to be
way ahead of their time, since computation for such sets using 1970–1980’s computers were slow and quite limited.
Consequently, there was a period of time during which not much, if anything, appeared about type-2 fuzzy sets.
Finally, why did it take so long for the concept of a type-2 fuzzy set to emerge? According to Mendel (2007):
It seems that science moves in progressive ways where one theory is eventually replaced or supplemented by another, and then another. In
school we learn about determinism before randomness. Learning about type-1 fuzzy sets before type-2 fuzzy sets fits a similar learning
model. So, from this point of view it was very natural for type-1 fuzzy sets to have been developed as far as possible. Only by doing so was it
really possible later to see the shortcomings of such fuzzy sets when one tries to use them to model words or to apply them to situations where
uncertainties abound. . . . Recall, also, that in the 1970s people were first learning what to do with type-1 fuzzy sets, e.g. fuzzy logic control.
Bypassing those experiences would have been unnatural. Once it was clear what could be done with type-1 fuzzy sets, it was only natural for
people to then look at more challenging problems.

1.9.2 Publications that Heavily Influenced the First Edition of This Book

Karnik and Mendel (1998a, b, 2001a) extended the works of Mizumoto and Tanaka to obtain practical algorithms for
performing union, intersection, and complement for type-2 fuzzy sets; developed the concepts of type-reduction, centroid, and
generalized centroid of type-2 fuzzy sets; provided two practical algorithms for computing the latter two for interval type-
2 fuzzy sets in Karnik and Mendel (1998b, 2001b); obtained a general formula for the extended sup-star composition of type-
2 relations in Karnik and Mendel (1998b, c) and Karnik, et al. (1999); and based on this formula, Karnik and Mendel
(1998a, b, c) and Karnik et al. (1999) established a complete type-2 fuzzy [logic] system theory,11 one that included type-
reduction, although the latter was developed first in Karnik and Mendel (1998b, c).
Liang and Mendel (2000a, b) developed a complete theory for Mamdani interval type-2 fuzzy [logic] systems, for different
kinds of fuzzifiers, and showed how such fuzzy systems could be designed, that is, how the free parameters within interval
type-2 fuzzy systems could be tuned by using training data. They also developed type-2 TSK fuzzy [logic] systems in Liang
and Mendel (1999, 2001).
There were also some articles about type-2 fuzzy sets that appeared in the Japanese literature, but are only in Japanese. Two
examples are Izumi et al. (1983) and Sugeno (1983). No doubt, there are other articles that have eluded this author, and if there
are, I hope that we hear about them.

1.9.3 Most Cited Articles

Because the literature about type-2 fuzzy sets and systems is now so large, it may be of value to the reader to know what its
20 most-cited journal articles are. Shukla et al. (2020) have this information (as well as much more) for the years 1997–2017

10
This material about IVFSs was written in French, apparently never published in a refereed journal, and so it was not, and still is not, available in
English to the general scientific community.
11
These are Mamdani type-2 fuzzy systems. The two most popular fuzzy systems used by engineers are the Mamdani and Takagi-Sugeno-Kang
(TSK) systems (see Chap. 3). Both are characterized by IF–THEN rules and have the same antecedent structures. They differ in the structures of the
consequents. The consequent of a rule in a Mamdani fuzzy system is a fuzzy set, whereas the consequent of a rule in a TSK fuzzy system is a
mathematical function.
12 1 Introduction

(extracted from the Science and Social Science Citation Indices in the Web of Science database). Below, I list the top
20 journal articles extracted from Google Scholar, as of January 28, 2023.

1. Mendel, J. M. and R. I. John. 2002. Type-2 fuzzy sets made simple. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 10: 117–127
(cited 2816 times).
2. Mendel, J. M., R. I. John and F. Liu. 2006. Interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems made simple. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy
Systems 14: 808–821 (cited 2217 times).
3. Liang, Q. and J. M. Mendel. 2000. Interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems: Theory and design. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy
Systems 8: 535–550 (cited 2178 times).
4. Karnik, N. N., J. M. Mendel and Q. Liang. 1999. Type-2 fuzzy logic systems. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 7:
643–658 (cited 1785 times).
5. Karnik, N. N. and J. M. Mendel. 2001. Centroid of a type-2 fuzzy set. Information Sciences 132: 195–220 (cited 1368
times).
6. Gorzalczany, M. B. 1987. A method of inference in approximate reasoning based on interval-valued fuzzy sets. Fuzzy
Sets and Systems 21: 1–17 (cited 1341 times).
7. Hagras, H. 2004. A hierarchical type-2 fuzzy logic controller architecture for autonomous mobile robots. IEEE
Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 12 (4): 524–539 (cited 1148 times).
8. Mendel, J. M. 2007. Type-2 fuzzy sets and systems: An overview. IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine 2: 20–29
(cited 1053 times).
9. Mizumoto, M. and K. Tanaka. 1976. Some properties of fuzzy sets of type-2. Information and Control 31: 312–340 (cited
960 times).
10. Karnik, N. N. and J. M. Mendel. 2001. Operations on type-2 fuzzy sets. Fuzzy Sets and Systems 122: 327–348 (cited
886 times).
11. Mendel, J. M. 2007. Advances in type-2 fuzzy sets and systems. Information Sciences 177 (1): 84–110 (cited 747 times).
12. Wu, D. and J. M. Mendel. 2008. Enhanced Karnik-Mendel algorithms. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 17 (4):
923–934 (cited 601 times).
13. Wu, H. and J. M. Mendel. 2002. Uncertainty bounds and their use in the design of interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems.
IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 10 (5): 622–639 (cited 595 times).
14. Hagras, H. 2007. Type-2 FLCs: A new generation of fuzzy controllers. IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine 2:
30–43 (cited 550 times).
15. C. Hwang and F. C. H. Rhee. 2007. Uncertain fuzzy clustering: Interval type-2 approach to c-means. IEEE Transactions
on Fuzzy Systems 15 (1): 107–120 (cited 501 times).
16. Wagner, C. and H. Hagras. 2010. Towards general type-2 fuzzy logic systems based on zslices. IEEE Transactions on
Fuzzy Systems 18: 637–660 (cited 431 times).
17. Liu, F. 2008. An efficient centroid type-reduction strategy for general type-2 fuzzy logic system. Information Sciences
178: 2224–2236 (cited 421 times).
18. Wu, D. and J. M. Mendel. 2007. Uncertainty measures for interval type-2 fuzzy sets. Information Sciences 177 (23):
5378–5393 (cited 403 times).
19. Liang, Q. and J. M. Mendel. 2000. Equalization of nonlinear time-varying channels using type-2 adaptive filters. IEEE
Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 8(5): 551–563 (cited 396 times).
20. Wu, D. and J. M. Mendel. 2009. A comparative study of ranking methods, similarity measures and uncertainty measures
for interval type-2 fuzzy sets. Information Sciences 179 (8): 1169–1192 (cited 387 times).

1.10 Coverage12

Chapter 2 formally introduces type-1 fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic. It is the backbone for Chap. 3 and provides the foundation
upon which type-2 fuzzy sets and systems are built in later chapters. Thirty-six examples are used to illustrate this chapter’s
important concepts.

12
More detailed summaries are given at the beginning of each chapter.
1.11 Applicability Outside of Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems 13

Chapter 3 explores many aspects of the type-1 fuzzy system, which was introduced in Chap. 1. It provides a very
comprehensive and unified description of the two major kinds of type-1 fuzzy systems that are widely used in real-world
applications—Mamdani and TSK fuzzy systems. Not only are derivations provided, but a lot of emphasis is also placed on
understanding the potential benefits of using a type-1 fuzzy system. Twenty-six examples are used to illustrate important
concepts.
Chapter 4 focuses first on what exactly “design of a type-1 fuzzy system” means, then provides a tabular way for making
the choices that are needed in order to fully specify a type-1 fuzzy system, introduces two approaches to design—the partially
dependent approach and the totally independent approach, includes some important design methods, and has five extensive
case studies. Sixteen examples are used to illustrate important concepts.
Chapter 5 examines the kinds of uncertainties that motivate the use of type-2 fuzzy sets and systems, and how data about
words can be collected from a group of subjects so that two kinds of linguistic uncertainties can then be modeled using
fuzzy sets.
Chapter 6 formally introduces type-2 fuzzy sets, and is the backbone for the rest of this book. It includes a lot of new
terminology and also a way to obtain a type-2 fuzzy set model for a word. Twenty-six examples are used to illustrate the
important concepts.
Chapter 7 explains how to work with type-2 fuzzy sets. Most of its topics are needed in the rest of this book. For a reader
who is only interested in interval type-2 fuzzy sets, a shortcut is possible and is explained in Sect. 7.1. Twenty-two examples
are used to illustrate the chapter’s important concepts.
Chapter 8 introduces a computation called type-reduction that lets a type-2 fuzzy set be projected into a type-1 fuzzy set. It
does this outside of the context of a rule-based fuzzy system (Chap. 9 does this in the context of an IT2 fuzzy system, and
Chap. 11 does it in the context of a GT2 fuzzy system) and leads to very useful uncertainty measures for T2 FSs—the centroid
and variance. Twelve examples are used to illustrate the important concepts.
Chapter 9 explores many aspects of the interval type-2 fuzzy system that was introduced in Chap. 1. As was done for type-1
fuzzy systems, it provides a very comprehensive and unified description of the two major kinds of interval type-2 fuzzy
systems that are widely used in real-world applications— interval type-2 Mamdani and TSK fuzzy systems. Importantly, it
also distinguishes between interval type-2 fuzzy systems that include type-reduction followed by defuzzification and those
that bypass type-reduction and use direct defuzzification. Not only are derivations provided, but a lot of emphasis is also
placed on understanding the potential benefits of using an interval type-2 fuzzy system over using a type-1 fuzzy system.
Seventeen examples are used to illustrate the important concepts.
Chapter 10 is the interval type-2 version of Chap. 4. It focuses first on what exactly “design of an interval type-2 fuzzy
system” means, then provides a tabular way for making the choices that are needed in order to fully specify an interval type-
2 fuzzy system, introduces two approaches to design—the partially dependent approach and the totally independent approach,
includes some important design methods and has five extensive case studies. Eleven examples are used to illustrate the
chapter’s important concepts.
Chapter 11 explores many aspects of the general type-2 fuzzy system that was introduced in Chap. 1. It provides a very
comprehensive and unified description of two major kinds of aggregated horizontal-slice type-2 fuzzy systems (due to
Christian Wagner and Hani Hagras, and called herein a WH GT2 fuzzy system) that may be used in real-world applications—
WH GT2 Mamdani and WH GT2 TSK fuzzy systems. Importantly, it also distinguishes between WH GT2 fuzzy systems that
include type-reduction followed by defuzzification and those that bypass type-reduction and use direct defuzzification. And, it
also focuses on what exactly “design of a WH GT2 fuzzy system” means, provides a tabular way for making the choices that
are needed in order to fully specify a WH GT2 fuzzy system, introduces two approaches to design—the partially dependent
approach and the totally independent approach, and describes one design method and one extensive case study. Not only are
derivations provided, but a lot of emphasis is also placed on understanding the potential benefits of using a WH GT2 fuzzy
system over using an interval type-2 fuzzy system. Thirteen examples are used to illustrate the chapter’s important concepts.
Exercises are provided at the end of each chapter so that this book can be used as a textbook.

1.11 Applicability Outside of Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems

Although this book is about rule-based fuzzy systems, much of Chaps. 2, 6, 7, and 8 are also applicable to non-rule-based
applications of type-1 and type-2 fuzzy sets. Such applications are left to the reader to explore.
14 1 Introduction

1.12 Computation

As of the writing of this book (2022–2023), the following sources are available13 for software that can be used to implement
much of what is in this book:

1. The Mathwork’s Fuzzy Logic Toolbox: It lets one automatically tune membership functions and rules of a fuzzy inference
system from data. The designed fuzzy logic systems can be evaluated in14 MATLABⓇ and SimulinkⓇ. Additionally, the
fuzzy inference system can be used as a support system to explain artificial intelligence (AI)-based black-box models.
Standalone executables or C/C++ code and IEC 61131-3 Structured Text can be generated to evaluate and implement fuzzy
logic systems. Since the publication of Mendel (2017), this Toolbox has been upgraded to include both Mamdani and TSK
type-2 fuzzy systems.
2. A free open source MATLABⓇ/SimulinkⓇ Toolbox for interval type-2 fuzzy logic systems: It can be accessed at: http://web.
itu.edu.tr/kumbasart/type2fuzzy.htm. Its developers are Ahmet Taskin and Tufan Kumbasar.
3. Functions for Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Systems: It is MATLABⓇ based, free, and can be accessed at: https://www.
mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/29006-functions-for-interval-type-2-fuzzy-logic-systems. Its developer is
Dongrui Wu.
4. A series of free software tools, JuzzyOnline, Juzzy, and JuzzyPy: They are browser-based, Java-based, and Python-based,
respectively, and offer support for the design and implementation of type-1, interval, and general type-2 sets and system-
based applications, have been developed by the Lab of Uncertainty in Data and Decision Making (LUCID), led by
Christian Wagner, and can be accessed together with further software tools for capturing and handling uncertain data at:
http://lucidresearch.org/software.
5. Type-2 fuzzy logic software (a collection of m-files for MATLABⓇ that includes m-files for type-1 fuzzy systems): It is free
and can be accessed at: http://sipi.usc.edu/~mendel/ (go to Publications/Software/Software/I agree to these conditions). Its
developers are: Nilesh Karnik, Qilian Liang, Feilong Liu, Dongrui Wu, Jhiin Joo, Minshen Hao, and Jerry M. Mendel.
6. PyIT2FLS is a Python toolkit developed for interval type 2 fuzzy logic systems: It is free with an open-source library and
provides support for both TSK and Mamdani fuzzy systems. In addition, it supports type 1 fuzzy sets and systems.
Numerous types of membership functions, different type-reduction algorithms, many standard interval type 2 fuzzy sets,
t-norms, s-norms, and fuzzy operators are also included. It can be accessed at: https://github.com/Haghrah/PyIT2FLS. Its
developer is Amir Arsian Hagrah, under the supervision of Dr. Sehraneh Ghaemi.

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account of types of fuzzy sets and their relationships. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 24: 179–194.
Castillo, O. 2012. Type-2 fuzzy logic in intelligent control applications. In Studies in fuzziness and soft computer, vol. 272. Heidelberg: Springer.
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Springer.
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Fuzzy Systems 19: 305–322.
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13
There also is other proprietary software that is being used by researchers, but, even though it is used, mentioned, described and referenced in
articles, it is not available to others.
14
MATLAB and Simulink are registered trademarks of The MathWorks.
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16 1 Introduction

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Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic
2

2.1 Crisp Sets

Recall that a set A in a universe of discourse X (which provides the set of allowable values for a variable) can be defined by
listing all of its members or by identifying the elements x ⊂ A. One way to do the latter is to specify a condition or conditions
for which x ⊂ A; thus, A can be defined as A = {x| x meets some condition(s)}. Alternatively, one can introduce a zero-one
membership function (MF) (also called a characteristic function, discrimination function, or indicator function) for A, denoted
μA(x), such that

1 if x 2 A
A ) μ A ð xÞ = ð2:1Þ
0 if x 2
=A

Set A (which can also be treated as a subset of X) is mathematically equivalent to its MF μA(x) in the sense that knowing
μA(x) is the same as knowing A itself. In order to distinguish between a set and a fuzzy set, the former will be referred to as a
“crisp set.” The number of elements in A is called its cardinality.

Example 2.1 (Mendel 1995a) Consider the set of all automobiles in New York City; this is X. The elements of X are
individual cars; but there are many different types of subsets that can be established for X, including the three that are depicted
in Fig. 2.1. Either a car has or does not have six cylinders. This is a very crisp requirement. Hence, if your car has four
cylinders, its MF value (i.e., membership grade) for the subset of four cylinder cars is unity, whereas its membership grades
for the subsets of six cylinder or eight cylinder cars are zero.

Example 2.2 (Mendel 2015) Suppose that the domain of x is partitioned into five regions, and one knows exactly where the
dividing line is between each region, so one is in the situation that is depicted in Fig. 2.2, where no uncertainty exists about
x = b, c, d, e. Each of the intervals [a, b], (b, c], (c, d], (d, e], (e, f] is a crisp partition (Definition 1.1), that is, x is either in
it (with membership value of 1) or not in it (with membership value of 0) and x cannot simultaneously be in more than one of
these intervals. Each interval is associated with a crisp set that is described by a linguistic term, E1, or E2, or. . ., or E5, such as a
level of temperature or pressure, and there is always a sharp jump from one set to another at x = b, c, d, e. As mentioned in
connection with Fig. 1.1a, this crisp model serves us well in many situations, but it does not allow any uncertainty about
x = b, c, d, e. A fuzzy set will allow for this, as shall be seen.

2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Associated Concepts

This section provides the background that is needed to read Chaps. 3 and 4. To begin, a short section about the father of fuzzy
sets and logic, Professor Lotfi A. Zadeh, is provided.

# The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024 17


J. M. Mendel, Explainable Uncertain Rule-Based Fuzzy Systems, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35378-9_2
18 2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic

Fig. 2.1 Partitioning of the set of X X X


all automobiles in New York City
into subsets by (a) color, (b) Blue 4 Cylinders
Green Domestic
domestic or foreign, and (c) White
number of cylinders. (Mendel 6 Cylinders
1995a # 1995, IEEE)
8 Cylinders
Red Other
Grey
Foreign
Other

Fig. 2.2 Interpreting crisp sets as µE (x)


i
crisp partitions. (Mendel 2015
# Springer 2015) E1 E2 E3 E4 E5
1

x
a b c d e f

2.2.1 Lotfi A. Zadeh

Fuzzy sets1 were invented around 1965 by Prof. Lotfi A. Zadeh, but why? In Zadeh (1973), he states:
Essentially our contention is that the conventional quantitative techniques of system analysis are intrinsically unsuited for dealing with
humanistic systems or, for that matter, any system whose complexity is comparable to that of humanistic systems. The basis for this
contention rests on what might be called the principle of incompatibility. Stated informally, the essence of this principle is that as the
complexity of a system increases, our ability to make precise and yet significant statements about its behavior diminishes until a threshold is
reached beyond which precision and significance (or relevance) become almost mutually exclusive characteristics (a corollary to this
principle may be stated succinctly as, “The closer one looks at a real-world problem, the fuzzier becomes its solution.”). It is in this sense that
precise quantitative analyses of the behavior of humanistic systems are not likely to have much relevance to the real world societal, political,
economic, and other types of problems which involve humans either as individuals or in groups.

Prof. Zadeh2 (Fig. 2.3), born in Baku, Azerbaijan, on February 4, 1921, and educated at Alborz College in Tehran, the
University of Tehran, MIT, and Columbia University, spent most of his career at the University of California at Berkeley, after
10 years at Columbia University. He was already a famous system theorist when in 1965, he published what has now become
the seminal paper on fuzzy sets (Zadeh 1965). This paper, which, as of March 2022, has been cited in Google Scholar more
than 125,000 times and is one of the most highly cited papers in all of computer science, marked the beginning of a new
direction; by introducing the concept of a fuzzy set, that is, a class with unsharp boundaries, he provided a basis for a
qualitative approach to the analysis of complex systems in which linguistic rather than numerical variables are employed to
describe system behavior and performance. In this way, a much better understanding of how to deal with uncertainty may be
achieved and better models of human reasoning may be constructed. Although his unorthodox ideas were initially met with
some skepticism, they have gained wide acceptance in recent years and have found application in just about every field
imaginable. He is now acknowledged to be the “Father of Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic.” Prof. Zadeh passed away in 2017 and
is buried in the First Alley of Honors, Baku, Azerbaijan.

1
The English word “fuzzy” has a negative connotation when it used in a technical context. It may be okay to describe a soft teddy bear, a cuddly pet,
or a peach, but for it to be used for mathematics and its applications is a red flag. Prof. Zadeh was well aware of this but felt that in 1965, “fuzzy” was
the best word for him to use for this kind of a set. I propose that, after more than 50 years, these sets be called Zadeh sets (Mendel 2020). I am not
going to use my proposed replacement in this book, because, although I would like to do it, if I did, almost no one would know what I was talking
about.
2
This short biographical sketch was taken mostly from Mendel (2007).
2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Associated Concepts 19

Fig. 2.3 Professor Lotfi


A. Zadeh, the Father of Fuzzy Sets
and Fuzzy Logic. ((a) Photo taken
at Mendel Symposium, at
University of Southern California,
May 2009. (b) Photo taken at the
monument of Prof. Zadeh, in the
First Alley of Honors, Baku,
Azerbaijan, by Prof. Shahnaz
N. Shahbazova, September
29, 2018)

2.2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Set Defined

Definition 2.1 A type-1 fuzzy set3 A is (Aisbett et al. 2010) a set function on universe X (sometimes denoted DA) into [0, 1],
possibly constrained to belong to a family such as continuous functions, that is, μA : X→[0, 1]. The MF of A is denoted μA(x)
and is called a type-1 MF, that is,

A = fðx, μA ðxÞÞjx 2 X g ð2:2Þ

in which 0 ≤ μA(x) ≤ 1. A can also be expressed in fuzzy set notation4 for continuous universes X, as

A= μA ðxÞ=x ð2:3Þ
x2X

where denotes union over all x 2 X, or for discrete universes Xd, as

A= μA ðxÞ=x ð2:4Þ
x2X d

where ∑ denotes union over all x 2 Xd. The slash in (2.3) and (2.4) associates the elements in X with their membership grades,
where μA(x) > 0. The value of μA(x) is called the degree of membership, or membership grade, of x in A. If μA(x) = 1 or
μA(x) = 0 for all x 2 X, then the fuzzy set A reduces to a crisp set. See Sect. 2.1 of Appendix 2 for discussions about the
cardinality of a type-1 fuzzy set.

Note that A can also be treated as a subset of X. Unlike a crisp set, which can be described in different ways (as is explained
in Sect. 2.1), a fuzzy set can only be described by its MF.

3
In order to distinguish among different fuzzy set models, what were originally called fuzzy sets are in this book called type-1 fuzzy sets. Beginning
with Chap. 6, type-2 fuzzy sets are studied.
4
Fuzzy set notation was introduced in Zadeh (1965) and has remained popular for more than 55 years, although many people find it somewhat
strange and object to its use of symbols, such as the integral and summation. Aisbett et al. (2010) distinguish between “fuzzy set notation” and
“standard mathematical notation.” In Definition 2.1, μA : X→[0, 1] is the description of a type-1 fuzzy set in standard mathematical notation. My
own preference is to use each notation where it is useful.
20 2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic

Fig. 2.4 MFs for domestic and µ (x)


foreign cars, based on the
percentage of parts in the car made 1
in the United States. (Mendel 1995a # 1995, IEEE)
µ F (x) µ D (x)

0.5

0
x (percentage
0 25 50 75 100 of parts made
in the USA)

Example 2.1 (Continued) (Mendel 1995a) Referring to the middle of Fig. 2.1, observe that cars can also be partitioned into
the two subsets, domestic and foreign. But a car can be viewed as “domestic” or “foreign” from different perspectives. One
perspective is that a car is domestic if it carries the name of a U. S. auto manufacturer; otherwise it is foreign. There is nothing
fuzzy about this perspective. Many people today, however, feel that the distinction between a domestic and foreign
automobile is not as crisp as it once was, because many of the components for what one considers to be domestic cars
(e.g., Fords, GMs, and Chryslers) are produced outside of the United States. Additionally, some “foreign” cars are
manufactured in the United States. Consequently, one could think of the MFs for domestic and foreign cars looking like
μD(x) and μF(x) depicted in Fig. 2.4. Observe that a specific car (located along the horizontal axis by determining the
percentage of its parts made in the United States) exists in both subsets simultaneously—domestic cars and foreign cars—but
to different degrees of membership. For example, if a car has 75% of its parts made in the United States, then5 μD(75%) = 0.90
and μF(75%) = 0.25. Ultimately, one would describe such a car as domestic. In fact, when one does this, the subset is decided
upon by choosing it to be associated with the maximum of μD(75%) = 0.90 and μF(75%) = 0.25.
The main point of this example is to demonstrate that in a fuzzy set, an element can reside in more than one set to different
degrees of similarity. This cannot occur in a crisp set.
Note that describing a car by its color is also not a crisp description, because each color has different shades associated
with it.

Definition 2.2 The support of a type-1 fuzzy set A is the crisp set of all points x 2 X such that μA(x) > 0. A type-1 fuzzy set
whose support is a single point in X with μA(x) = 1 is called a (type-1) fuzzy singleton.

Definition 2.3 The height of a type-1 fuzzy set is the maximum MF value. A normal type-1 fuzzy set is one for which
supx 2 XμA(x) = 1, that is, its height equals 1.

Example 2.2 (Continued) Mendel (2015) Referring to Fig. 2.2, suppose one now wants a model that allows for uncertainty
about x = b, c, d, e so that one is in the situation of Fig. 2.5, where in [a, bl], x resides only in E1, whereas in [bl, br], x resides
simultaneously in E1 and E2, but to different degrees, μE1 ðxÞ and μE2 ðxÞ, respectively; in (br, cl], x resides only in E2, whereas
in (cl, cr], x resides simultaneously in E2 and E3, but to different degrees, μE2 ðxÞ and μE3 ðxÞ, respectively; etc. The MF μEi ðxÞ
for Ei is no longer only 0 or 1, and MFs can overlap. So, a type-1 fuzzy set allows x to be partitioned using overlapping
partitions, where one is absolutely certain about where the overlap begins and ends, that is, as first-order uncertainty
partitions (Definition 1.2), something that cannot be done by a crisp set. Overlapping partitions lead to smooth transitions
from one set to another, which is very different from the sharp jumps that occur when crisp sets are used. As mentioned in

5
For fuzzy sets, there is absolutely no requirement that μD(x) + μF(x) = 1, even though some authors impose this (e.g., Ruspini 1969; Bezdek 1981).
When the constraint that the sum of the fuzzy set memberships must add to 1 for x 2 X is imposed, the result is called a fuzzy partition. Fuzzy
partitions are not used in this book (except for Sect. 4.2.2) because, in the opinion of this author, they impose unnecessary constraints on fuzzy set
MFs, especially when MF parameters are optimized, as is commonly done in rule-based fuzzy systems.
2.2 Type-1 Fuzzy Sets and Associated Concepts 21

Fig. 2.5 Interpreting type-1 µE (x)


i
fuzzy sets as overlapping
partitions. (Mendel 2015 E1 E2 E3 E4 E5
1
# Springer 2015)

x
a bl b br cl c cr dl d d r el e er f

connection with Fig. 1.1b, this fuzzy set model serves us well in many situations, but it does not allow for any uncertainty
about the overlap. A type-2 fuzzy set will allow for this.
Each of the five fuzzy sets in Fig. 2.5 is a normal type-1 fuzzy and the support of E1 is [a, br], the support of E2 is [bl, cr],
. . ., and the support of E5 is [el, f].

Example 2.3 (Zimmermann 1991) Let F = integers close to 10; then one choice for μF(x) is:

μF ðxÞ ≡ 0:1=7 þ 0:5=8 þ 0:8=9 þ 1=10 þ 0:8=11 þ 0:5=12 þ 0:1=13 ð2:5Þ

Five points to note from this MF are:

1. The integers for x not explicitly shown all have MFs equal to zero—by convention, such elements are not listed.
2. The values for the MFs were chosen by a specific individual; except for the unity membership value when x = 10, they can
be modified based on one’s own personal interpretation of the word “close,” that is, words mean different things to different
people.
3. The MF is symmetric about x = 10, because there is no reason to believe that integers to the left of 10 are close to 10 in a
different way than are integers to the right of 10; but again, other interpretations are possible.
4. F is a normal type-1 fuzzy set.
5. The fuzzy set F is an example of a type-1 fuzzy number, which will be defined formally in Sect. 2.2.3 (Definition 2.5).

Definition 2.4 A type-1 fuzzy set A is convex (Klir and Yuan 1995) if and only if

μA ðλx1 þ ð1 - λÞx2 Þ ≥ min½μA ðx1 Þ, μA ðx2 Þ] ð2:6Þ

This can be interpreted as (Lin and Lee 1996): Take any two elements x1 and x2 in fuzzy set A; then the membership grade
of all points between x1 and x2 must be greater than or equal to the minimum of μA(x1) and μA(x2). This will always occur when
the MF of A is first monotonically nondecreasing and then monotonically nonincreasing.6 Each of the MFs in Fig. 2.5 is
convex.

6
In mathematics a real-value function f(x) defined on an interval is called convex if the line segment between any two points on the graph of the
function lies above or on the graph (e.g., a parabola). Why the fuzzy set A that satisfies (2.6) is called “convex” rather than “concave” is a bit
mysterious. Maybe it is due to a concave function also being known in mathematics as a convex upwards, convex cap, or upper convex function.
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and tempers, the more Cicely compassionated the state of mind
which gave rise to them.
“It must be so terrible to feel that one has been false and
deceitful,” thought Cicely with a shudder, crediting, as was natural for
her to do, remorse with a far larger share in Geneviève’s
wretchedness than it really deserved. And she was marvellously
patient with the wayward girl; but yet in her very patience, in her
quiet kindness, there was a something against which Geneviève
instinctively rebelled.
“Why does she look at me so? I have done no wrong; it is not my
fault that Mr. Fawcett likes me best,” she would say to herself with a
species of childish defiance that was one of her characteristics when
roused to anger. “It was all that she was rich; but now that she is no
longer rich, how will it be now?” and a gleam of hope would shoot
across her for an instant, to be as quickly succeeded by misgiving
and despair. “He said, he promised, he would tell her he could no
longer marry her,” she repeated to herself a dozen times a day. “Why
has he not done so? Two, three days are past since her father’s
funeral, and he has not yet come; he has never come since the day
she would not see him. And Cicely does not seem surprised. What
can it be? Perhaps he has gone away!”
At last one morning, Geneviève in a fit of restless dreariness, set
off for a walk by herself. It was the same morning on which Mrs.
Methvyn and Cicely were talking together in the library, and it was on
her return from her walk that Geneviève, entering the room,
interrupted their conversation.
“So you have been out, my dear?” said Mrs. Methvyn kindly.
“Have you had a nice walk?”
“It is very cold,” replied the girl, shivering a little, and going nearer
to the fire.
She still had her hat and cloak on, and the light in the room was
not very bright. But now, something in her voice struck both Cicely
and her mother as unusual. It sounded faint and toneless.
“You have not caught cold, I hope?” said Mrs. Methvyn anxiously.
She was conscious that she had not given much attention to her
cousin’s daughter of late, and a touch of self-reproach made itself
felt.
“No, thank you; I have not caught cold,” said Geneviève. Then
she came a step or two nearer to where her aunt and cousin were
sitting, and they, looking at her, saw that she was very pale, and that
her eyes were red and swollen with crying.
“Aunt,” she said suddenly, and with a something of dignity in her
manner, new to her. “Aunt, you have been very good for me. I thank
you much, very much, for your kindness. I shall always thank you.
But I want you to let me go home now, home to Hivèritz, to my
mother. Please let me go; I can make the voyage by myself alone,
perfectly well. Please let me go. To-morrow, or in two or three days
at the latest.”
Mrs. Methvyn looked at her in astonishment.
“Geneviève, what is the matter?” she exclaimed. “What has
happened to put such an extraordinary idea into your head? Go
home alone! Nonsense, you know such a thing is impossible. You
must be reasonable, my dear, and tell me what has made you
unhappy. I can see you have been crying.”
“Nothing has happened,” replied Geneviève. “It is only quite
simply that I want to go home.”
“But you cannot go home all of a sudden in that way,” persisted
Mrs. Methvyn. “If there were no other reason against it, the
appearance of it at such a time would be an objection. You should
consider that, my dear. I have a great many troubles just now,
Geneviève. I think you should try not to add to them. And it is plain
that something has put you out this morning.”
Geneviève felt that Cicely’s eyes were fixed upon her with what
she imagined to be reproach, and she hardened her heart.
“Nothing has put me out,” she repeated. “I am not happy, that is
all. I do not love England; I want to go home.”
“But I cannot allow you to go home unless I am shown a good
reason for it,” said Mrs. Methvyn firmly. “When I brought you away
from your mother, Geneviève, it was with the wish and intention of
making you happy with us. If I have not succeeded, I regret it very
much; but still that does not free me from the responsibility I
undertook. I cannot possibly let you go home as you propose. You
do not really mean what you are saying—you are put out about
something, and afterwards you will be sorry.”
Mrs. Methvyn leant back wearily in her chair. Geneviève stood
before her, her eyes fixed on the ground.
“No,” she said, after a little pause, “no; I shall not be sorry
afterwards. I am sorry now,” she glanced up for a moment, “I am
sorry to trouble you. But I shall not be sorry for asking to go home. I
must go home. If I write and ask my mother, and if she consents, you
will let me go then?”
“I cannot prevent your writing home what you choose,” said Mrs.
Methvyn, as if tired of the discussion, “but, of course, it is very painful
to me that my plans for your welfare should end so, and I know it will
disappoint your mother.” She was silent for a moment, then she
suddenly looked at her niece with a new suspicion. “Geneviève,” she
said, speaking with an effort, “can it be that the reason you want to
leave us is, that you have heard any talk about our not being as rich
as we were?”
The blood rushed to Geneviève’s white face.
“No; oh, no!” she cried. “Indeed, it is not that. I am not so—so—
what do you call it?—so mean. No, it is not that.”
“But you might have some mistaken idea about it without being
mean,” replied Mrs. Methvyn, speaking more kindly. “You might have
some notion that it would be difficult now for me to do what before
was quite easy—that you would be an additional burden upon me.
But things are not as bad as all that, my dear. I shall be very glad to
have you with me, and I shall be quite able to manage comfortably. If
I saw you happy, I should be more pleased even than before to have
you with me, when—when I am quite alone—when Cicely has to
leave us.”
Her voice faltered a little as she glanced at her daughter, who all
this time had sat perfectly silent, neither by word nor look taking part
in the discussion. Once or twice during the conversation Cicely had
been tempted to interfere, but on reflection she refrained from doing
so. “It is better that mother should be prepared for something,” she
thought, “even this ill-timed request of Genevieve’s may pave the
way for what I must tell her.”
Geneviève’s eyes followed her aunt’s, but again something in
Cicely’s expression roused her latent obstinacy and defiance.
“I am sorry,” she said slowly. “I am sorry, but it must be. I cannot
stay here. Give me leave then, my aunt, to write to my mother about
my return home.”
“I told you before, you must write what you choose,” said Mrs.
Methvyn coldly.
And Geneviève left the room without saying more.
“Do you understand her, Cicely?” said Mrs. Methvyn when she
was again alone with her daughter. “Do you in the least understand
what has put this into her head? She is evidently very unhappy.
Surely,” she went on as a new idea struck her, “surely it cannot have
anything to do with Mr. Guildford?”
“No,” replied Cicely, almost, in spite of herself, amused at her
mother’s recurrence to her favourite scheme; “no. I am perfectly
certain it has nothing whatever to do with him.”
“Then, what can it have to do with?”
“She is certainly not happy,” answered Cicely, evasively. “I am
sorry for her.”
“Do you think you could find out more, if you saw her alone?” said
Mrs. Methvyn uneasily.
“I will go up and speak to her if you like,” said Cicely.
She rose from her chair as she spoke. As she passed her mother,
she stooped and kissed Mrs. Methvyn’s soft pale face—the lines had
grown much deeper and more numerous on it of late—the
roundness and comeliness were fast disappearing.
“Don’t worry yourself about Geneviève, dear mother,” she said.
“Even if she leaves you, you have me, haven’t you?”
“Yes, dear,” answered her mother. “I should not want her if I could
always have you! But, of course, it is not a question of wanting her. It
is so vexing to think of poor Caroline’s disappointment; it is so utterly
unexpected. I do not understand the child at all; she is not the least
like her mother.”
Cicely made her way up to her cousin’s room. Geneviève was
already seated at her little writing-table—pens, paper, and ink,
spread out before her.
“Geneviève,” said Cicely. “You have made my mother very
uneasy. She is most sorry on your mother’s account. The letter you
are going to write will distress Madame Casalis very much. I want
you not to send it—at least not to-day.”
“But I will send it,” said Geneviève angrily. “Why should you
prevent it? It is best for me to go, I tell you,” her voice softened a
little. “You don’t know—” she went on, “and if you did, you, so cold,
so réglée, how could you understand?”
Cicely looked at her with a strange mixture of pity and contempt.
“No,” she said, “perhaps I could not. But still Geneviève, for my
mother’s sake—I am determined to spare her all the annoyance I
can—I ask you not to write that hasty letter about going home, to
your mother to-day.”
“Why should I not?” said Geneviève.
“Because I tell you it is better not,” replied Cicely. “And you know I
always have spoken the truth to you, Geneviève.”
Geneviève looked cowed and frightened.
“Very well,” she said, “I will not write it. Not to-day.”
Cicely saw that she had gained her point. She left the room
without saying any more. And no letter was written by Geneviève
that afternoon. She sat in her room crying till it grew dark, and by
dinner-time had succeeded in making herself as miserable looking a
little object as could well be imagined, so that poor Mrs. Methvyn
said in her heart, that if it were not for the disappointment to
Caroline, her daughter’s absence would hardly be a matter of regret.
Cicely had no time to spare for crying; and tears, she was
beginning to find, are, for the less “med’cinable griefs,” a balm by no
means so easy of attainment as for slighter wounds.
“I think my tears are all frozen,” she said to herself with a sigh, as
she folded and sealed the last of her letters. She sat for a moment or
two gazing at the address before she closed the envelope, as if the
familiar words had a sort of fascination for her.
“I wonder if it is the last time I shall ever write to him,” she said to
herself. “When—when he is Geneviève’s husband, there can surely
never be any necessity for our coming in contact with each other. Yet
people grow accustomed to such things I have heard, and my
suffering cannot be unprecedented. Ah, what a sad thing life
becomes when one’s trust is broken! Far, far sadder than death!”
And after all, two or three large tears rolled slowly down her cheeks
and dropped upon the white paper.
This was the letter.
“Greystone,
“October 25th.
“My dear Trevor,—I should like to see you alone to-morrow. Will
you call here between two and three in the afternoon? I have
deferred asking you to come till now, because I thought it best that
you should thoroughly understand that I, in what I have determined
to do, am not acting hastily or impulsively.
“Your affectionate cousin,
“CICELY MAUD METHVYN.”
“It will prepare him to some extent,” she said to herself. The note,
simple as it was, had a certain formality about it, very different from
the girlishly off-hand letters she had been accustomed to send him.
“Will he feel it all relief?” she said to herself, as she thought how best
and most clearly she must put into words the resolution she had
come to. “Or will it be pain too? However he loves her, he did love
me, and he cannot have changed so entirely as to give no thought to
me.”
And again some tears blistered the smooth surface of the black-
bordered envelope in her hand.
CHAPTER V.
“HOW LITTLE YOU UNDERSTAND.”

“What thing is Love which nought can countervail?


Nought save itself, ev’n such a thing is Love.
All worldly wealth in worth as far doth fail,
As lowest earth doth yield to Heaven above,
Divine is love and scorneth worldly pelf,
And can be bought with nothing but itself.”

WHEN Mr. Fawcett called the next day he found, as he expected,


Cicely alone in the library waiting for him. She was pale, and her
mourning gown made her appear very thin; but still it did not strike
Trevor that she was looking ill. The black dress showed to advantage
her pretty fair hair, and her blue eyes were clear and calm, as she
came quietly forward to meet her cousin. He hastened eagerly up to
her.
“Oh! Cicely,” he exclaimed reproachfully before she had time to
speak, “you have made me so very unhappy.”
Cicely had not expected this; for an instant she felt taken by
surprise.
“Made you unhappy,” she repeated, gently withdrawing from his
clasp the hand he still held. “How?”
In his turn Mr. Fawcett was set at a disadvantage. “You know
how,” he said, “by refusing to see me, of course. Who should be as
near you as I, in trouble?”
“I told you in the note I sent you yesterday why I did not ask you
to come sooner,” said Cicely.
“No, you didn’t. At least you gave no proper reason,” answered
Trevor. “I didn’t understand what you meant in the least, and I don’t
want to understand it. You have got some fancy in your head that
has no foundation whatever, and I don’t want to hear anything about
it.”
“But you must,” said Cicely very gravely. “Trevor, did you not
understand what I meant? Do you not know now that I meant that—
that everything must be over between us?”
“Cicely!” exclaimed Trevor, “Cicely! You cannot mean what you
say.”
There was a ring of pain in his voice, and his face grew pale.
Cicely began to find her task harder than she had anticipated.
“Yes,” she said sadly, “I do mean it. I must mean it.”
Her way of expressing herself seemed to Mr. Fawcett to savour of
relenting.
“No, you don’t; you mustn’t,” he persisted. “I did not think you
attached so much importance to mere outward circumstances—
accidents, in fact. You cannot mean that on account of what has
happened lately you are going to throw me over? Such a reason is
unworthy of you, Cicely?”
Cicely looked perplexed. “What do you mean?” she asked. “What
do you think is my reason?”
Trevor hesitated. “You force me to speak plainly,” he said. “I mean
that you are too proud to marry me now because—because you are
no longer rich.”
“Because I am no longer rich. Ah, it is that you are thinking of! Ah!
yes—I understand you now. But oh, how little you understand me!”
She looked up in his face with a strange light in her eyes. “Do you
think that that would ever have parted us? Do you think I should not
have loved to owe everything I had to you? Do you think my pride so
paltry a thing as to be weighed against money?”
“No,” said Trevor gloomily. “I found it difficult to believe it. But what
else was I to think? How could I explain your change to me? How am
I to explain what you tell me now?”
“Trevor,” said Cicely solemnly, “you know my reason.”
“I do not,” he answered doggedly.
“Do you not know,” she went on, “that I am only doing what you
meant to do? Why you have changed in your intention I cannot tell,
unless, yes unless, it was out of pity for me. Was it out of pity for me,
Trevor?”
Her voice quivered, there were tears in her eyes now.
“Cicely, you will drive me mad unless you will tell me what you
mean,” exclaimed Trevor. “Speak plainly, I entreat you.”
He was braving it out, but Cicely could perceive his increasing
nervousness and uneasiness.
“I will speak plainly,” she said calmly. “What you intended to do
was to break off our engagement because you had found out that
you cared for—for some one else more than for me. I don’t know if
you deserve blame for its being so; I cannot judge. But for one thing
you deserve blame, and that is for having deceived me, Trevor—for
having allowed me to go on thinking of myself as belonging to you,
when—when you loved her and not me. Oh, that part of it is
horrible!”
She turned away her head. In that moment she went afresh
through suffering as acute as on the evening of the ball,—the agony
of humiliation, the misery of outraged trust, which, to a nature like
hers, were by far the sorest parts of her trial.
“Who told you all this?” said Trevor hoarsely.
“Yourself,” replied Cicely, but still without looking at him. “I was in
the fernery at Lingthurst the night of the ball, when you and
Geneviève passed through. She was crying, and I heard what you
said—what you promised her. I was hidden behind some large
plants. I could not, of course, have let you know in time that I was
there, but it was better that I heard what I did. I suppose you would
have acted as you said but for what happened so soon—and then
you shrank from adding to my sorrow; was it not so, Trevor?”
“No, not altogether. I did not mean what I said. I mean I did not
wish it. I said it impulsively because—oh, because she cried and
threw herself upon my pity! But even if I had wished to break with
you, Cicely, I could not. I could not have done so when I learnt the
change that had taken place in your position. Do you think I have no
feeling of honour?”
“‘Honour’ has come to mean many things,” said Cicely sadly. “Has
it nothing to tell you of what you owe to her?”
Trevor muttered something under his breath, which Cicely did not
catch the sense of. “Besides,” she went on, “it is true, it must be true,
that you care for her?”
“Not as I do for you, Cicely,” he ex claimed vehemently. “Will you
not believe me—what can I say—good heavens! what can I say to
make you believe me? I see it all now so plainly—what I fancied my
love for her was a mere soulless infatuation, a thing that could not
have lasted. I was no sooner out of her presence than I repented
what I had said. I was mad I think—but at that time I had been
worked upon to believe that it would cost you nothing to break with
me. I did believe it, and I was reckless.”
“Trevor,” said Cicely, “it is frightful to me to hear you talk like this. I
cannot believe it. Let me think as well of you as I can; do not try to
deprive yourself of your only excuse—that you do love her.”
“I suppose I fancied I did—after a fashion,” he allowed. “But it was
not the sort of love that should be taken up so seriously as you are
doing. Would you take it up so if you cared for me, Cicely? It seems
to me you are eager to catch at an excuse for throwing me off.”
“How can you, how dare you say so?” exclaimed Cicely, her eyes
flashing. “Have you forgotten your own words? Nothing else would
have made me doubt you, but can you deny your own words?”
“I was mad, I tell you,” said Trevor.
Cecily looked at him with a species of sad contempt. “Oh! Trevor,”
she said; then she burst into tears.
Mr. Fawcett was beside her in an instant. He thought he had
prevailed. “You do care for me still. I know you do,” he cried
triumphantly.
But the girl quickly disengaged herself from his embrace.
“Listen to me,” she said firmly. “I do not care for you now; I have
ceased to love you as I must have loved the man I married. But it is
not true that I did not love you. I cannot remember the time when it
did not seem to me natural to think of myself as belonging to you.
You were a great part of my life. But I see now that you did not
understand my love for you. You doubted it, because it was calm and
deep and had grown up gradually. So perhaps, perhaps, it is best as
it is; best, if it was not the kind of love that would have satisfied you,
that it should have died.”
“You don’t know what you are saying,” he persisted. “It cannot
have died. You are not the kind of woman to change so suddenly,
nor could that sort of love die so quickly.”
“It did not die—you killed it,” she replied. “You killed it when you
killed my faith in you. Trevor, it is useless to blind yourself to the
truth. I can only tell you the fact. I do not know if it is unwomanly. I do
not know if there are nobler natures than mine who would feel
differently; I can only tell you what I feel. If Geneviève were not in
existence, if she were away for ever, married to some one else
perhaps, it would make no difference. Knowing you as I do now I
could never marry you; I could never love you again.”
He was convinced at last; he felt that, as she said, she was only
stating a fact over which she had no longer any control. He leant his
arms upon the table and hid his face in them and said no more.
“I did not think you would care so much,” said Cicely simply, while
the tears ran down her cheeks.
“Care,” he repeated bitterly. “I wonder after all if you do know what
caring means, Cicely.” Then he was silent.
Cicely grew indignant again. “How little you understand!” she
exclaimed. “Supposing I were different from what I am—supposing I
could still have cared for you in the old way—what would that have
mattered? I would not have married you; do you think I would or
could have married a man who came to me with another woman’s
broken heart in his hand?”
Mr. Fawcett laughed. “It is hardly a case of a broken heart,” he
said sneeringly.
“How can you tell? Oh! Trevor, don’t make me lose respect for
you altogether!” exclaimed Cicely passionately. “I know Geneviève
better than you do; I know her faults and weaknesses. But I will not
let you speak against her. She loves you, she is all but broken
hearted already. I tremble to think what she might have been driven
to. You don’t know what she has suffered these last days; you have
not seen her lately.”
“Yes I have,” he replied. “I saw her yesterday morning.”
And unconsciously his tone softened as he recalled the blank
misery of the pretty face, the anguish in the brown eyes, when, as
gently as he knew how, he had broken to her the inevitable change
in his intentions, the necessity under which he was placed by her
cousin’s altered circumstances of fulfilling his engagement.
“Yesterday morning,” repeated Cicely. “You met her I suppose.
Yes, I understand now what made her look as she did when she
came in.”
“She has never understood you. She sincerely believed you did
not care for me. There is that to be said for her, at least,” said Trevor.
“And she is so young, so ignorant,” added Cicely generously. “And
she loves you, Trevor. There is this one thing for you to do, to retain,
to increase my sisterly regard for you. You must be very good to her
always.”
But Trevor only groaned.
“Will you promise me this, Trevor?” said Cicely.
“I suppose so,” he said. “I must do whatever you tell me.” He lifted
his head and gazed absently out of the window. Before his eyes lay
Cicely’s little rose-garden. The roses were nearly over now; the
gardeners were at work removing the bright coloured bedding-out
plants—the geraniums and calceolarias and lobelias which had
made it so gay a few weeks ago. A new thought struck Trevor.
“Cicely,” he said wistfully, “my father meant to have bought
Greystone privately. No one need have known the particulars of your
affairs.”
“I know,” said Cicely. Her lip quivered, and she turned her head
away.
“Cicely,” he said again, this time even more timidly, “have you
thought of your mother?”
“Yes,” replied Cicely, “I have thought of everything.”
She faced him as she spoke. Her tone was firm and resolute,
though her face was white and set. Then Trevor gave in at last, and
knew that his fate was decided. And he knew, too, that it was his
own doing.
Geneviève’s letter requesting her parents’ permission to return
home at once, was not only never sent—it was never written.
That same afternoon the girl was sitting in lonely misery in her
room when Cicely knocked at the door, and asked leave to come in.
“Have you written home yet, Geneviève?” she inquired, for her
cousin was again seated by the writing-table with paper and pens
before her.
“No,” she replied; “I thought you would be angry if I did.”
“What were you going to write then?” said Cicely, glancing at the
table.
“I don’t know. I thought, perhaps, I would write a letter to mamma,
and then show it to you to see if you liked it.”
“About going home?”
“Yes.”
Cicely was silent for a moment or two. And then she said quietly
and very gravely,
“Geneviève, though perhaps you don’t like me very much, you
trust me, don’t you? Don’t you believe that I have wished to be kind
to you, and that I would like you to be happy?”
“Yes, I think so,” said Geneviève half reluctantly. With Cicely’s
eyes fixed upon her, it would have been difficult to speak other than
truthfully, and her nature was neither brave nor enduring. She was
already prostrated by trouble. All defiance was fast dying out. She
was willing to do whatever Cicely advised. “I think I trust you,” she
repeated; “but, oh! Cicely, you do not quite understand. I do not
think, perhaps, you could understand—you are wiser and better—
how I am miserable.”
She looked up in her cousin’s face with great tears in her lovely
brown eyes. When Geneviève allowed herself to be perfectly simple
and straightforward, she could be marvellously winning. Even at this
moment her cousin recognised this. “I hardly wonder at him,” she
said to herself. “There is little fear that he will not love her enough.”
“Poor Geneviève,” she said aloud, “I am very sorry for you. I wish
you had let yourself trust me before. I might have saved you some of
this unhappiness. I am not much older than you, but I might have
warned you, for you were so inexperienced. I would have prevented
things going so far. You know the first wrong thing was your getting
into the habit of seeing my cousin so much alone—of meeting him
and going walks with him.”
“I know now,” said Geneviève meekly, “but I did not at first—truly, I
did not. I thought—oh! I cannot say to you what I thought.” She hid
her face in her hands. “I had heard,” she went on, “that in England
young girls were left free to arrange, tout cela for themselves. I knew
not it was not convenable what I did. But Cicely,” she exclaimed in
affright, “how do you know all that you say—what am I telling you?”
“You can tell me nothing I do not know,” said Cicely. “My cousin
has told me everything.”
“He—Mr. Fawcett—Trevor! He has told you!” cried Geneviève in
bewildered amazement. “How can that be? He has told you, and you
—you have forgiven him? It remains but for me to go home and be
forgotten. But, oh! that I had never come here.”
“I have forgiven him,” said Cicely, ignoring the last sentences;
“but, Geneviève, I did not find it easy. I blame him far—far more than
you.”
Geneviève looked up again with a sparkle of hope in her eyes.
“Cicely,” she whispered, and her face grew crimson, “Cicely, you
must remember that when I—when I first began to care so much for
him, I knew not that he was more to you than a cousin.”
“I know that. I have not forgotten it,” said Cicely, while a quick look
of pain contracted her fair forehead. “I know that, it was my own
fault,” she added in a low voice as if thinking aloud. “But as if I could
ever have thought of Trevor—! I have not forgotten that, Geneviève,”
she repeated. “At first, too, he thought you knew, he thought you
looked upon him as a sort of a brother.”
“And so you have forgiven him?” said Geneviève again.
“What do you mean by ‘forgiving’? I have forgiven him, but—of
course, knowing what I do now, it is impossible that things can be as
they were.”
“You will not marry him! Do you mean that, Cicely? Ah! then it is
as I said—you do not, you cannot care for him!” exclaimed
Geneviève excitedly.
Hitherto Cicely had completely preserved her self-control. Now,
for the first time, it threatened to desert her. A rush of sudden
indignation made her eyes sparkle and her cheeks glow.
“How dare you say so?” she exclaimed. “Is it not enough—what I
have to bear—without my being taunted with indifference,
Geneviève?” She went on more calmly. “You must not speak to me
in that way. I do not ask to be thought about at all. What I have to do,
I will go through with, but at least you need not speak about me at
all, whatever you think.”
Geneviève was sobbing. “If you do love him,” she said, “why do
you not marry him? I ask only to go away home. I will never trouble
you again!”
“Do you understand me so little?” asked Cicely. “Do you think I
could marry a man who I believed cared more for another woman
than for me?”
“Do you think so?” said Geneviève, with thoughtlessly selfish
eagerness.
“Yes,” said Cicely deliberately, after a moment’s silence. “I do
think so. He may not think so himself, just now,” she added in
thought, “but I believe it is so.”
Then Geneviève said no more. Her head was in a whirl of feelings
which she dared not express. She could scarcely credit her own
happiness, she did not know if it were wicked of her to feel happy.
She was afraid of seeming to pity Cicely, or even of expressing
anything of the admiration and gratitude she could not but be
conscious that her cousin deserved. So she sat beside her in
silence, crying quietly, till after a time a new idea struck her.
“Cicely,” she said, “what will they all say? Sir Thomas and Lady
Frederica, and my aunt. Will they not be very angry?”
“There is no need for Sir Thomas and Lady Frederica to be told
much at present,” replied Cicely. “I have talked it over with my
cousin. Of course, they must be told it is all at an end with—with me.
But they will not be altogether surprised, and things are different
now. I am no longer rich.”
She spoke quite simply, but her words stung Geneviève to the
quick.
“I had forgotten that,” she exclaimed. “Ah! believe me, I had
forgotten it. These last days I have been so unhappy I have forgotten
all—since I saw Mr. Fawcett yesterday morning I have had but one
thought. Oh! believe me, Cicely, if I had remembered that, I should
have gone away without asking—I would indeed!”
Cicely looked at her with a little smile.
“Don’t make yourself unhappy about me on that account,” she
said. “I only meant that it would naturally make Trevor’s relations
look upon it all somewhat differently. And they are fond of you
already.”
“But my aunt?” said Geneviève.
Cicely’s face grew graver.“I will do the best I can,” she said. “For
every sake I will do that. But I cannot promise you that my mother
will ever feel again towards you as she has done. I think it will be
best for you soon to go away—to Hivèritz, I suppose—till—till you
are married.”
“And when I am married, will you not come to see me? Will you
not forgive quite? Will you not love me, Cicely?”
She looked up beseechingly with the tears still shining in her dark
eyes, her whole face quivering with agitation.
“You have not cared much for my love hitherto, Geneviève,” said
Cicely sadly. “In the future I hope you will need it even less.”
But still she kissed the girl’s sweet face, and for one instant she
allowed Geneviève to throw her arms round her. Then she
disengaged herself gently and went away.
She did her best as she had promised.
But try as she might to soften matters, the blow fell very heavily
on her mother. Even had she thought it right to do so, it would have
been impossible to deceive Mrs. Methvyn as to the true state of the
case, and Cicely’s generous endeavours to palliate Geneviève’s
conduct, by reminding her mother of the girl’s childishness and
inexperience, by blaming herself for having kept her in ignorance of
Mr. Fawcett’s true position in the household—all seemed at first only
to add fuel to the flame of Mrs. Methvyn’s indignation against her
cousin’s child.
“No inexperience is an excuse for double dealing and deceit,” she
exclaimed. “Even had it not been Trevor, I should have looked upon
such behaviour as disgraceful in the extreme. No, Cicely, you can
say nothing to soften it. French or English, however she had been
brought up, she must have known she was doing wrong. I cannot
believe in her childishness and ignorance. She cannot be so very
childish if she has succeeded in achieving her purpose in this way.
And as for Trevor, she must have utterly bewitched him. I can pity
him if he marries her, for of course it is utterly impossible he can care
for her as he does for you.”
“I hope not. I hope it is not impossible, I mean, that he should care
for her far more than he has ever done for me,” said Cicely.
“Sometimes, mother, I have thought that my coldness and
undemonstrativeness have been trying to Trevor. And he is naturally
indolent. A wife who will cling to him and look to him for direction in
everything may draw out his character and energy—a more gentle,
docile wife than I would have been perhaps.”
She tried to smile, but the effort was a failure. Her mother looked
at her with an expression of anguish. In her first outburst of angry
indignation, she had almost forgotten what her child must be
suffering.
“My darling,” she exclaimed, “my own darling, who could be more
gentle and docile than you have always been? How can I tell you
what I feel for you? And you have known it all these miserable days
and never told me! No, Cicely, I cannot forgive them.”
“You will in time, mother dear,” said Cicely soothingly. “At least,
you, and I too, will learn to believe it must have been for the best. I
feel that I shall be able to bear it if I have still you. Only,” she added
timidly,“please don’t speak against them. It seems to stab me
somehow, to revive the first horrible pain,” she gave an involuntary
shudder. “For my sake, mother dear, you will try to forgive.”
“For your sake I would try to do anything,” replied her mother.

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