Sequential Pattern Mining

OutlineWhat is sequence database and sequential pattern miningMethods for sequential pattern miningConstraint-based sequential pattern miningPeriodicity analysis for sequence data

Sequence DatabasesA sequence database consists of ordered elements or eventsTransaction databases vs. sequence databases

A sequence database A transaction database

SIDsequences10203040

TIDitemsets10a, b, d20a, c, d30a, d, e40b, e, f

ApplicationsApplications of sequential pattern miningCustomer shopping sequences: First buy computer, then CD-ROM, and then digital camera, within 3 months.Medical treatments, natural disasters (e.g., earthquakes), science & eng. processes, stocks and markets, etc.Telephone calling patterns, Weblog click streamsDNA sequences and gene structures

Subsequence vs. super sequenceA sequence is an ordered list of events, denoted < e1 e2 el >Given two sequences =< a1 a2 an > and =< b1 b2 bm > is called a subsequence of , denoted as , if there exist integers 1 j1 < j2 and =< (abc), (de)>

What Is Sequential Pattern Mining?Given a set of sequences and support threshold, find the complete set of frequent subsequences

A sequence database A sequence : < (ef) (ab) (df) c b >An element may contain a set of items.Items within an element are unorderedand we list them alphabetically. is a subsequence of Given support threshold min_sup =2, is a sequential pattern

SIDsequence10203040

Challenges on Sequential Pattern MiningA huge number of possible sequential patterns are hidden in databasesA mining algorithm should find the complete set of patterns, when possible, satisfying the minimum support (frequency) thresholdbe highly efficient, scalable, involving only a small number of database scansbe able to incorporate various kinds of user-specific constraints

Studies on Sequential Pattern MiningConcept introduction and an initial Apriori-like algorithmAgrawal & Srikant. Mining sequential patterns, [ICDE95]Apriori-based method: GSP (Generalized Sequential Patterns: Srikant & Agrawal [EDBT96])Pattern-growth methods: FreeSpan & PrefixSpan (Han et al.KDD00; Pei, et al. [ICDE01])Vertical format-based mining: SPADE (Zaki [Machine Leanining00])Constraint-based sequential pattern mining (SPIRIT: Garofalakis, Rastogi, Shim [VLDB99]; Pei, Han, Wang [CIKM02])Mining closed sequential patterns: CloSpan (Yan, Han & Afshar [SDM03])

Methods for sequential pattern miningApriori-based ApproachesGSPSPADEPattern-Growth-based ApproachesFreeSpanPrefixSpan

The Apriori Property of Sequential PatternsA basic property: Apriori (Agrawal & Sirkant94) If a sequence S is not frequent, then none of the super-sequences of S is frequentE.g, is infrequent so do and

Given support threshold min_sup =2

GSPGeneralized Sequential Pattern MiningGSP (Generalized Sequential Pattern) mining algorithm Outline of the methodInitially, every item in DB is a candidate of length-1for each level (i.e., sequences of length-k) doscan database to collect support count for each candidate sequencegenerate candidate length-(k+1) sequences from length-k frequent sequences using Apriori repeat until no frequent sequence or no candidate can be foundMajor strength: Candidate pruning by Apriori

Finding Length-1 Sequential PatternsInitial candidates: , , , , , , , Scan database once, count support for candidates

CandSup35433211

Generating Length-2 Candidates

51 length-2CandidatesWithout Apriori property,8*8+8*7/2=92 candidatesApriori prunes 44.57% candidates

Finding Lenth-2 Sequential PatternsScan database one more time, collect support count for each length-2 candidateThere are 19 length-2 candidates which pass the minimum support thresholdThey are length-2 sequential patterns

The GSP Mining Processmin_sup =2

The GSP AlgorithmTake sequences in form of as length-1 candidatesScan database once, find F1, the set of length-1 sequential patternsLet k=1; while Fk is not empty doForm Ck+1, the set of length-(k+1) candidates from Fk;If Ck+1 is not empty, scan database once, find Fk+1, the set of length-(k+1) sequential patternsLet k=k+1;

The GSP AlgorithmBenefits from the Apriori pruningReduces search spaceBottlenecksScans the database multiple times Generates a huge set of candidate sequences

There is a need for more efficient mining methods

The SPADE AlgorithmSPADE (Sequential PAttern Discovery using Equivalent Class) developed by Zaki 2001A vertical format sequential pattern mining methodA sequence database is mapped to a large set of Item: Sequential pattern mining is performed by growing the subsequences (patterns) one item at a time by Apriori candidate generation

The SPADE Algorithm

34.bin

Bottlenecks of Candidate Generate-and-testA huge set of candidates generated.Especially 2-item candidate sequence.Multiple Scans of database in mining.The length of each candidate grows by one at each database scan.Inefficient for mining long sequential patterns.A long pattern grow up from short patternsAn exponential number of short candidates

PrefixSpan (Prefix-Projected Sequential Pattern Growth)PrefixSpanProjection-based But only prefix-based projection: less projections and quickly shrinking sequencesJ.Pei, J.Han, PrefixSpan : Mining sequential patterns efficiently by prefix-projected pattern growth. ICDE01.

Prefix and Suffix (Projection), , and are prefixes of sequence Given sequence

PrefixSuffix (Prefix-Based Projection)

Mining Sequential Patterns by Prefix ProjectionsStep 1: find length-1 sequential patterns, , , , , Step 2: divide search space. The complete set of seq. pat. can be partitioned into 6 subsets:The ones having prefix ;The ones having prefix ;The ones having prefix

SIDsequence10203040

Finding Seq. Patterns with Prefix Only need to consider projections w.r.t. -projected database: , , ,

Find all the length-2 seq. pat. Having prefix : , , , , , Further partition into 6 subsetsHaving prefix ;Having prefix

SIDsequence10203040

Completeness of PrefixSpan

SDBLength-1 sequential patterns, , , , , -projected database

Length-2 sequentialpatterns, , ,, , Having prefix Having prefix -proj. db-proj. dbHaving prefix -projected databaseHaving prefix Having prefix , ,

SIDsequence10203040

The Algorithm of PrefixSpanInput: A sequence database S, and the minimum support threshold min_supOutput: The complete set of sequential patternsMethod: Call PrefixSpan(,0,S)Subroutine PrefixSpan(, l, S|)Parameters:: sequential pattern,l: the length of ;S|: the -projected database, if ; otherwise; the sequence database S

The Algorithm of PrefixSpan(2)Method

1. Scan S| once, find the set of frequent items b such that: a) b can be assembled to the last element of to form a sequential pattern; or b) can be appended to to form a sequential pattern.2. For each frequent item b, append it to to form a sequential pattern , and output ;3. For each , construct -projected database S|, and call PrefixSpan(, l+1, S|).

Efficiency of PrefixSpanNo candidate sequence needs to be generatedProjected databases keep shrinkingMajor cost of PrefixSpan: constructing projected databasesCan be improved by bi-level projections

Optimization in PrefixSpan Single level vs. bi-level projection Bi-level projection with 3-way checking may reduce the number and size of projected databasesPhysical projection vs. pseudo-projection Pseudo-projection may reduce the effort of projection when the projected database fits in main memoryParallel projection vs. partition projectionPartition projection may avoid the blowup of disk space

Scaling Up by Bi-Level ProjectionPartition search space based on length-2 sequential patternsOnly form projected databases and pursue recursive mining over bi-level projected databases

Speed-up by Pseudo-projectionMajor cost of PrefixSpan: projectionPostfixes of sequences often appear repeatedly in recursive projected databasesWhen (projected) database can be held in main memory, use pointers to form projectionsPointer to the sequenceOffset of the postfix

s=

s|: ( , 2)s|: ( , 4)

Pseudo-Projection vs. Physical ProjectionPseudo-projection avoids physically copying postfixesEfficient in running time and space when database can be held in main memoryHowever, it is not efficient when database cannot fit in main memoryDisk-based random accessing is very costlySuggested Approach:Integration of physical and pseudo-projectionSwapping to pseudo-projection when the data set fits in memory

Performance on Data Set C10T8S8I8

37.bin

Performance on Data Set Gazelle

38.bin

Effect of Pseudo-Projection

39.bin

CloSpan: Mining Closed Sequential PatternsA closed sequential pattern s: there exists no superpattern s such that s s, and s and s have the same support Motivation: reduces the number of (redundant) patterns but attains the same expressive powerUsing Backward Subpattern and Backward Superpattern pruning to prune redundant search space

40.bin

41.bin

CloSpan: Performance Comparison with PrefixSpan

42.bin

Constraints for Seq.-Pattern MiningItem constraintFind web log patterns only about online-bookstoresLength constraintFind patterns having at least 20 itemsSuper pattern constraintFind super patterns of PC digital cameraAggregate constraintFind patterns that the average price of items is over $100

More Constraints Regular expression constraintFind patterns starting from Yahoo homepage, search for hotels in Washington DC areaYahootravel(WashingtonDC|DC)(hotel|motel|lodging)Duration constraintFind patterns about 24 hours of a shootingGap constraintFind purchasing patterns such that the gap between each consecutive purchases is less than 1 month

From Sequential Patterns to Structured PatternsSets, sequences, trees, graphs, and other structures Transaction DB: Sets of items {{i1, i2, , im}, }Seq. DB: Sequences of sets: {, }Sets of Sequences: {{, , }, }Sets of trees: {t1, t2, , tn}Sets of graphs (mining for frequent subgraphs): {g1, g2, , gn}Mining structured patterns in XML documents, bio-chemical structures, etc.

Episodes and Episode Pattern MiningOther methods for specifying the kinds of patternsSerial episodes: A BParallel episodes: A & BRegular expressions: (A | B)C*(D E)Methods for episode pattern miningVariations of Apriori-like algorithms, e.g., GSPDatabase projection-based pattern growthSimilar to the frequent pattern growth without candidate generation

Periodicity AnalysisPeriodicity is everywhere: tides, seasons, daily power consumption, etc.Full periodicityEvery point in time contributes (precisely or approximately) to the periodicityPartial periodicit: A more general notionOnly some segments contribute to the periodicityJim reads NY Times 7:00-7:30 am every week dayCyclic association rulesAssociations which form cyclesMethodsFull periodicity: FFT, other statistical analysis methodsPartial and cyclic periodicity: Variations of Apriori-like mining methods

SummarySequential Pattern Mining is useful in many application, e.g. weblog analysis, financial market prediction, BioInformatics, etc.It is similar to the frequent itemsets mining, but with consideration of ordering.We have looked at different approaches that are descendants from two popular algorithms in mining frequent itemsetsCandidates Generation: AprioriAll and GSPPattern Growth: FreeSpan and PrefixSpan