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A survey of density based clustering algorithms

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Abstract

Density based clustering algorithms (DBCLAs) rely on the notion of density to identify clusters of arbitrary shapes, sizes with varying densities. Existing surveys on DBCLAs cover only a selected set of algorithms. These surveys fail to provide an extensive information about a variety of DBCLAs proposed till date including a taxonomy of the algorithms. In this paper we present a comprehensive survey of various DBCLAs over last two decades along with their classification. We group the DBCLAs in each of the four categories: density definition, parameter sensitivity, execution mode and nature of data and further divide them into various classes under each of these categories. In addition, we compare the DBCLAs through their common features and variations in citation and conceptual dependencies. We identify various application areas of DBCLAs in domains such as astronomy, earth sciences, molecular biology, geography, multimedia. Our survey also identifies probable future directions of DBCLAs where involvement of density based methods may lead to favorable results.

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  1. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, 781039, India

    Panthadeep Bhattacharjee & Pinaki Mitra

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  1. Panthadeep Bhattacharjee
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  2. Pinaki Mitra
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Correspondence to Panthadeep Bhattacharjee.

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Panthadeep Bhattacharjee is currently a PhD research scholar in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India. He obtained his BTech in Information Technology from Assam University Silchar, India in 2010 and MTech in Computer Science & Engineering from National Institute of Technology Durgapur (NIT), India in 2012. He worked as assistant professor in the School of Computer Engineering, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar, India from June 2012 to December 2013. He joined IIT Guwahati in January 2014. His research interest includes pattern recognition, machine learning, data science, online algorithms. He has been a winner in the Artificial Intelligence-Design Challenge Championship held at International Institute of Information Technology (HIT) — Bangalore in 2018.

Pinaki Mitra is currently an associate professor at the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India. He obtained his BTech in Computer Science & Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India in 1987 and MTech in Computer Science & Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, India in 1989. He received his PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada in 1994. He worked as a Research Scientist at Center for Microprocessor Training Education and Research, Jadavpur University. Subsequently he joined National Institute of Management, Kolkata and served as an assistant professor. He joined IIT Guwahati in December 2004. His research interest includes cryptography, network security, computer graphics, multimedia, pattern recognition and machine learning.

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Bhattacharjee, P., Mitra, P. A survey of density based clustering algorithms. Front. Comput. Sci. 15, 151308 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11704-019-9059-3

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