Recently a new type of data source came into the focus of knowledge discovery from temporal data: interval sequences. In contrast to event sequences, interval sequences contain labeled events with a temporal extension. However, existing algorithms for mining patterns from interval sequences proved to be far from satisfying our needs. In brief, we missed an approach that, at the same time, defines support as the number of pattern instances, allows input data that consists of more than one sequence, implements time constraints on a pattern instance, and counts multiple instances of a pattern within one interval sequence. In this paper we propose a new support definition which incorporates these properties. We also describe FSMSet, an algorithm that employs the new support definition, and demonstrate its performance on field data from the automotive business.

Abstract.Recently a new type of data source came into the focus of knowledge discovery from temporal data: interval sequences. In contrast to event sequences, interval sequences contain labeled events with a temporal extension. However, existing algorithms for mining patterns from interval sequences proved to be far from satisfying our needs. In brief, we missed an approach that at the same time: defines support as the number of pattern instances, allows input data that consists of more than one sequence, implements time constraints on a pattern instance, and counts multiple instances of a pattern within one interval sequence. In this paper we propose a new support definition which incorporates these properties. We also describe an algorithm that employs the new support definition and demonstrate its performance on field data from the automotive business.

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