The UEA multivariate time series classification archive, 2018

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first multivariate time series classification archive, expanding on the univariate archive to facilitate rigorous evaluation of multivariate algorithms.

Contribution

It presents the initial version of the MTSC archive with 30 datasets, standardized formatting, and resources to promote better evaluation in multivariate TSC research.

Findings

First multivariate TSC archive with 30 datasets

Standardized data format and train/test splits provided

Encourages rigorous statistical evaluation of algorithms

Abstract

In 2002, the UCR time series classification archive was first released with sixteen datasets. It gradually expanded, until 2015 when it increased in size from 45 datasets to 85 datasets. In October 2018 more datasets were added, bringing the total to 128. The new archive contains a wide range of problems, including variable length series, but it still only contains univariate time series classification problems. One of the motivations for introducing the archive was to encourage researchers to perform a more rigorous evaluation of newly proposed time series classification (TSC) algorithms. It has worked: most recent research into TSC uses all 85 datasets to evaluate algorithmic advances. Research into multivariate time series classification, where more than one series are associated with each class label, is in a position where univariate TSC research was a decade ago. Algorithms are evaluated using very few datasets and claims of improvement are not based on statistical comparisons. We aim to address this problem by forming the first iteration of the MTSC archive, to be hosted at the website www.timeseriesclassification.com. Like the univariate archive, this formulation was a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of California, Riverside (UCR). The 2018 vintage consists of 30 datasets with a wide range of cases, dimensions and series lengths. For this first iteration of the archive we format all data to be of equal length, include no series with missing data and provide train/test splits.