A Sparse Tensor Generator with Efficient Feature Extraction

Abstract

Sparse tensor operations are gaining attention in emerging applications such as social networks, deep learning, diagnosis, crime, and review analysis. However, a major obstacle for research in sparse tensor operations is the deficiency of a broad-scale sparse tensor dataset. Another challenge in sparse tensor operations is examining the sparse tensor features, which are not only important for revealing its nonzero pattern but also have a significant impact on determining the best-suited storage format, the decomposition algorithm, and the reordering methods. However, due to the large sizes of real tensors, even extracting these features becomes costly without caution. To address these gaps in the literature, we have developed a smart sparse tensor generator that mimics the substantial features of real sparse tensors. Moreover, we propose various methods for efficiently extracting an extensive set of features for sparse tensors. The effectiveness of our generator is validated through the quality of features and the performance of decomposition in the generated tensors. Both the sparse tensor feature extractor and the tensor generator are open source with all the artifacts available at https://github.com/sparcityeu/feaTen and https://github.com/sparcityeu/genTen, respectively.