A Verified MATLAB Toolbox for the Dempster-Shafer Theory

The importance of the Dempster-Shafer theory (DST) for modeling and propagating uncertainty has grown in the recent past. An obstacle for wider application of this theory in industrial practice is the lack of software support for analysts. The few tools available depend on floating point arithmetic and do not consider the inherently interval-based nature of the DST to the full extent. Therefore, the obvious next step is to combine the DST ideas with those from interval arithmetic. An additional advantage of employing interval methods is the guarantee that the results obtained on a computer are mathematically correct. In this paper, we introduce a new verified DST implementation for MATLAB based on the previously developed IPP TOOLBOX. It extends this software using interval arithmetic and simultaneously takes care of the rounding errors. After giving a short overview of the Dempster-Shafer theory and interval methods, we describe the main features of the new toolbox and show its potential using several examples.