DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network

Time-series data are widely applied in real-world scenarios, but the non-stationary nature of their statistical properties and joint distributions over time poses challenges for existing forecasting models. To tackle this challenge, this paper introduces a forecasting model called DFCNformer (De-sta...

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Main Authors: Yuxin Jin, Yuhan Mao, Genlang Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Information
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/1/62
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author Yuxin Jin
Yuhan Mao
Genlang Chen
author_facet Yuxin Jin
Yuhan Mao
Genlang Chen
author_sort Yuxin Jin
collection DOAJ
description Time-series data are widely applied in real-world scenarios, but the non-stationary nature of their statistical properties and joint distributions over time poses challenges for existing forecasting models. To tackle this challenge, this paper introduces a forecasting model called DFCNformer (De-stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network Transformer), designed to mitigate accuracy degradation caused by non-stationarity in time-series data. The model initially employs a stabilization strategy to unify the statistical characteristics of the input time series, restoring their original features at the output to enhance predictability. Then, a time-series decomposition method splits the data into seasonal and trend components. For the seasonal component, a Transformer-based encoder–decoder architecture with De-stationary Fourier Attention (DSF Attention) captures temporal features, using differentiable attention weights to restore non-stationary information. For the trend component, a multilayer perceptron (MLP) is used for prediction, enhanced by a Dual Coefficient Network (Dual-CONET) that mitigates distributional shifts through learnable distribution coefficients. Ultimately, the forecasts of the seasonal and trend components are combined to generate the overall prediction. Experimental findings reveal that when the proposed model is tested on six public datasets, in comparison with five classic models it reduces the MSE by an average of 9.67%, with a maximum improvement of 40.23%.
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spelling doaj-art-e77e38c9f9f14118b0be014e3bac91092025-01-24T13:35:19ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892025-01-011616210.3390/info16010062DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient NetworkYuxin Jin0Yuhan Mao1Genlang Chen2School of Computer Science and Technology (School of Artificial Intelligence), Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, ChinaSchool of Computer and Data Engineering, Ningbo Tech University, Ningbo 315199, ChinaTime-series data are widely applied in real-world scenarios, but the non-stationary nature of their statistical properties and joint distributions over time poses challenges for existing forecasting models. To tackle this challenge, this paper introduces a forecasting model called DFCNformer (De-stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network Transformer), designed to mitigate accuracy degradation caused by non-stationarity in time-series data. The model initially employs a stabilization strategy to unify the statistical characteristics of the input time series, restoring their original features at the output to enhance predictability. Then, a time-series decomposition method splits the data into seasonal and trend components. For the seasonal component, a Transformer-based encoder–decoder architecture with De-stationary Fourier Attention (DSF Attention) captures temporal features, using differentiable attention weights to restore non-stationary information. For the trend component, a multilayer perceptron (MLP) is used for prediction, enhanced by a Dual Coefficient Network (Dual-CONET) that mitigates distributional shifts through learnable distribution coefficients. Ultimately, the forecasts of the seasonal and trend components are combined to generate the overall prediction. Experimental findings reveal that when the proposed model is tested on six public datasets, in comparison with five classic models it reduces the MSE by an average of 9.67%, with a maximum improvement of 40.23%.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/1/62time-series predictionnon-stationaryattention mechanismcoefficient networkTransformer
spellingShingle Yuxin Jin
Yuhan Mao
Genlang Chen
DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
Information
time-series prediction
non-stationary
attention mechanism
coefficient network
Transformer
title DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
title_full DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
title_fullStr DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
title_full_unstemmed DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
title_short DFCNformer: A Transformer Framework for Non-Stationary Time-Series Forecasting Based on De-Stationary Fourier and Coefficient Network
title_sort dfcnformer a transformer framework for non stationary time series forecasting based on de stationary fourier and coefficient network
topic time-series prediction
non-stationary
attention mechanism
coefficient network
Transformer
url https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/16/1/62
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AT yuhanmao dfcnformeratransformerframeworkfornonstationarytimeseriesforecastingbasedondestationaryfourierandcoefficientnetwork
AT genlangchen dfcnformeratransformerframeworkfornonstationarytimeseriesforecastingbasedondestationaryfourierandcoefficientnetwork