Merging Fuzzy Information

This chapter deals with an important issue pertaining to intelligent information processing systems, that of managing information coming from several sources. Possibility theory and the body of aggregation operations from fuzzy set theory provide some tools to address this problem. The fusion of imprecise information is carefully distinguished from the estimation problem. The approach to fusion is set-theoretic and the choice of conjunctive versus disjunctive fusion modes depends on assumptions on whether all sources are reliable or not. Quantified, prioritized and weighted and fusion rules are described. Fuzzy extensions of estimation processes are also discussed. The approach, based on conflict analysis, applies to sensor fusion, aggregation of expert opinions as well as the merging of databases.