Data clustering using hierarchical deterministic annealing and higher order statistics [image processing]

In this brief, we propose an extension to the hierarchical deterministic annealing (HDA) algorithm for clustering by incorporating additional features into the algorithm. To decide a split in a cluster, the interdependency among all the clusters is taken into account by using the entire data distribution. A general distortion measure derived from the higher order statistics (HOS) of the data is used to analyze the phase transitions. Experimental results clearly demonstrate the improvement in the performance of the HDA algorithm when the interdependency among the clusters and the HOS of the data points are also utilized for the purpose of clustering.