PKNN-MIFS: A Parallel KNN Classifier over an Optimal Subset of Features

Abstract

Feature selection help select an optimal subset of features from a large feature space to achieve better classification performance. The performance of KNN classifier can be improved significantly using an appropriate subset of features from a large feature space. Recent development in General Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU) has provided us a low cost yet high performance computing support for wide range of applications. This paper presents a parallel KNN classifier powered by a mutual information based feature selection called PKNN-MIFS for effective classification of real life data. It selects an optimal subset of features from the original feature set by exploiting the mutual information concept for the estimation of feature-class and feature-feature relevance. It selects a non-redundant feature by giving higher priority on feature-class relevance. The performance of the proposed PKNN-MIFS has been evaluated over several datasets and has been found to be superior to its closed counterpart.