Nec Laboratories America, Inc.

Leon Bottou

Eric Cosatto

Hans Peter Graf

Jason Edward Weston

Ronan Collobert

Vladimir Vapnik

Disclosed is an improved technique for training a support vector machine using a distributed architecture. A training data set is divided into subsets, and the subsets are optimized in a first level of optimizations, with each optimization generating a support vector set. The support vector sets output from the first level optimizations are then combined and used as input to a second level of optimizations. This hierarchical processing continues for multiple levels, with the output of each prior level being fed into the next level of optimizations. In order to guarantee a global optimal solution, a final set of support vectors from a final level of optimization processing may be fed back into the first level of the optimization cascade so that the results may be processed along with each of the training data subsets. This feedback may continue in multiple iterations until the same final support vector set is generated during two sequential iterations through the cascade, thereby guaranteeing that the solution has converged to the global optimal solution. In various embodiments, various combinations of inputs may be used by the various optimizations. The individual optimizations may be processed in parallel.

Parallel support vector method and apparatus

Disclosed is a method for training a transductive support vector machine. The support vector machine is trained based on labeled training data and unlabeled test data. A non-convex objective function which optimizes a hyperplane classifier for classifying the unlabeled test data is decomposed into a convex function and a concave function. A local approximation of the concave function at a hyperplane is calculated, and the approximation of the concave function is combined with the convex function such that the result is a convex problem. The convex problem is then solved to determine an updated hyperplane. This method is performed iteratively until the solution converges.

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Princeton, NJ, United States of America

Leon Bottou