We introduce a class of tree-based clustering methods based on a single parameter W and show how to generate the full collection of cluster sets C(W), without duplication, by varying W according to conditions identified during the algorithm’s execution. The number of clusters within C(W) for a given W is determined automatically, using a graph representation in which cluster elements are represented by nodes and their pairwise connections are represented by edges. We identify features of the clusters produced which lead to special procedures to accelerate the computation. Finally, we introduce a related node-based variant of the algorithm based on a parameter Y which can be used to generate clusters with complementary features, and a method that combines both variants based on a parameter Z and a weight that determines the contribution of each variant.
Part of the book: Recent Applications in Data Clustering