From fuzzy information processing to fuzzy communication channels

The concept of fuzzy information becomes a cornerstone of processing and handling linguistic data. As opposed to processing of numeric information where there is a wealth of advanced methods, by entering the area of linguistic information processing we are immediately faced with a genuine need to revisit the fundamental concepts. We first review a notion of information granularity as a primordial concept playing a key role in human cognition. Dwelling on that, the study embarks on the concept of interacting at the level of fuzzy sets. In particular, we discuss a basic construct of a fuzzy communication channel. The ideas of communication exploiting fuzzy information call for its efficient encoding and decoding that subsequently leads to minimal losses of transmitted information. Interestingly enough, the incurred losses depend heavily on the granularity of the linguistic information involved – in this way one can take advantage of the uncertainty residing within the transmitted information granules and exploit it in the design of the corresponding channel.