Data Mining of Association Rules and the Process of Knowledge Discovery in Databases - Advances in Data Mining - page 15

Data Mining of Association Rules and the
Process of Knowledge Discovery in Databases

Jochen Hipp 1 , Ulrich Guntzer 2 , and Gholamreza Nakhaeizadeh 1

1

DaimlerChrysler AG, Research & Technology, 89081 Ulm, Germany
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

2

Wilhelm Schickard-Institute, University of Tubingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany
[e-mail]

Abstract. In this paper we deal with association rule mining in the
context of a complex, interactive and iterative knowledge discovery pro-
cess. After a general introduction covering the basics of association rule
mining and of the knowledge discovery process in databases we draw
the attention to the problematic aspects concerning the integration of
both. Actually, we come to the conclusion that with regard to human
involvement and interactivity the current situation is far from being sat-
isfying. In our paper we tackle this problem on three sides: First of all
there is the algorithmic complexity. Although today's algorithms e 2 -
ciently prune the immense search space the achieved run times do not
allow true interactivity. Nevertheless we present a rule caching schema
that significantly reduces the number of mining runs. This schema helps
to gain interactivity even in the presence of extreme run times of the
mining algorithms. Second, today the mining data is typically stored in
a relational database management system. We present an e 2 cient inte-
gration with modern database systems which is one of the key factors
in practical mining applications. Third, interesting rules must be picked
from the set of generated rules. This might be quite costly because the
generated rule sets normally are quite large whereas the percentage of
useful rules is typically only a very small fraction. We enhance the tra-
ditional association rule mining framework in order to cope with this
situation.

1 Introduction

During the second half of the eighties digital information technology completed
its victory by conquering even the last niches in our modern world. Today nearly
everything is “digitized”. This development is not restricted to the obvious do-
mains, like the Internet, common database applications, or electronic commerce.
Even traditional domains of our everyday life increasingly depend on modern
information technology. Examples are the scanner based cash desk at our su-
permarket, the electronic break system in our car, or the virtual trainer in our
fitness center.