General interval-valued overlap functions and interval-valued overlap indices

Overlap functions are aggregation functions that express the overlapping degree between two values. They have been used both as a conjunction in several practical problems (e.g., image processing and decision making), and to generate overlap indices between two fuzzy sets, which can be used to construct fuzzy confidence values to be applied in fuzzy rule based classification systems. Some generalizations of overlap functions were recently proposed, such as n-dimensional and general overlap functions, which allowed their application in n-dimensional problems. More recently, the concept of interval-valued overlap functions was presented, mainly to deal with uncertainty in providing membership functions. In this paper, we introduce: (i) the concept of n-dimensional interval-valued overlap functions, studying their representability, (ii) the definition of general interval-valued overlap functions, providing their characterization and some construction methods. Moreover, we also define the concept of interval-valued overlap index, as well as some constructing methods. In addition, we show an illustrative example where those new concepts are applied. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.