On type-reduction of type-2 fuzzy sets: A review

As an undetachable module of type-2 (T2) fuzzy computations and reasoning, type-reduction methods play an important role in various fuzzy disciplines including fuzzy logic systems and fuzzy clustering. Importance of type-reduction techniques lies in the fact that they are the main tools for collecting the entire inherent vagueness of the data. Therefore, type-reduction methods form the output of type-2 fuzzy sets (T2 FSs) as the representative of the entire uncertainty in a given space. Hence, their accuracy, precision, and performance speed is of much interest. This paper, presents a comprehensive review on various type-reduction and defuzzification strategies for general and interval type-2 fuzzy sets and systems. It is tried to analyze the existing approaches from different point of views accompanied by extensive comparisons on different features of type-reduction methods to facilitate further research studies by the fuzzy community.