Analyzing Time Series Data

Time series data means the data that is in a series of particular time intervals. If we want to build sequence prediction in machine learning, then we have to deal with sequential data and time. Series data is an abstract of sequential data. Ordering of data is an important feature of sequential data.

Basic Concept of Sequence Analysis or Time Series Analysis

Sequence analysis or time series analysis is to predict the next in a given input sequence based on the previously observed. The prediction can be of anything that may come next: a symbol, a number, next day weather, next term in speech etc. Sequence analysis can be very handy in applications such as stock market analysis, weather forecasting, and product recommendations.

Example

Consider the following example to understand sequence prediction. Here A,B,C,D are the given values and you have to predict the value E using a Sequence Prediction Model.

For time series data analysis using Python, we need to install the following packages:

Pandas

Pandas is an open source BSD-licensed library which provides high-performance, ease of data structure usage and data analysis tools for Python. You can install Pandas with the help of the following command:

pip install pandas

If you are using Anaconda and want to install by using the conda package manager, then you can use the following command:

conda install -c anaconda pandas

hmmlearn

It is an open source BSD-licensed library which consists of simple algorithms and models to learn Hidden Markov Models(HMM) in Python. You can install it with the help of the following command:

pip install hmmlearn

If you are using Anaconda and want to install by using the conda package manager, then you can use the following command:

conda install -c omnia hmmlearn

PyStruct

It is a structured learning and prediction library. Learning algorithms implemented in PyStruct have names such as conditional random fields(CRF), Maximum-Margin Markov Random Networks (M3N) or structural support vector machines. You can install it with the help of the following command:

pip install pystruct

CVXOPT

It is used for convex optimization based on Python programming language. It is also a free software package. You can install it with the help of following command:

pip install cvxopt

If you are using Anaconda and want to install by using the conda package manager, then you can use the following command:

conda install -c anaconda cvdoxt

This was all about the requirements for time series data analysis using Python. Make sure you keep your environment ready for our next post which will be on handling, Slicing and Extracting Statistic from Time Series Data.