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Baylor University.

Faster k-means clustering.

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The popular k-means algorithm is used to discover clusters in vector data automatically. We present three accelerated algorithms that compute exactly the same clusters much faster than the standard method. First, we redesign Hamerly's algorithm to use k heaps to avoid checking distance bounds for all n points, with little empirical gain. Second, we use an adaptive number of distance bounds to avoid redundant calculations (Drake and Hamerly 2012). Experiments show the superior performance of adaptive k-means in medium dimension (20 ≤ d ≤ 200) on uniform random data. Finally, we reformulate the triangle inequality to constrain the search space for a point's nearest center to an annular region centered at the origin. For uniform random data, annulus k-means is competitive with or much faster than other algorithms in low dimension (d < 20), and it outperforms other algorithms on five of six naturally-clustered, real-world datasets tested (d ≤ 74).

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
M.S.
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters
Grantor
Baylor University.
Year dc:date.issued
2013

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Drake, Jonathan, 1989-
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Hamerly, Gregory James, 1977-

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/2104/8826
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/8826

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Baylor University
Base URL
baylor-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Drake, Jonathan, 1989-. Faster k-means clustering.. Masters thesis, Baylor University., 2013. https://hdl.handle.net/2104/8826