A 2uFunction representation for non-uniform type-2 fuzzy sets: Theory and design

The theoretical and computational complexities involved in non-uniform type-2 fuzzy sets (T2 FSs) are main obstacles to apply these sets to modeling high-order uncertainties. To reduce the complexities, this paper introduces a 2uFunction representation for T2 FSs. This representation captures the ideas from probability theory. By using this representation, any non-uniform T2 FS can be represented by a function of two uniform T2 FSs. In addition, any non-uniform T2 fuzzy logic system (FLS) can be indirectly designed by two uniform T2 FLSs. In particular, a 2uFunction-based trapezoid T2 FLS is designed. Then, it is applied to the problem of forecasting Mackey–Glass time series corrupted by two kinds of noise sources: (1) stationary and (2) non-stationary additive noises. Finally, the performance of the proposed FLS is compared by (1) other types of FLS: T1 FLS and uniform T2 FLS, and (2) other studies: ANFIS [54], , IT2FNN-1 [54], , T2SFLS [3], and Q-T2FLS [35]. Comparative results show that the proposed design has a low prediction error as well as is suitable for online applications.