REDI: Recurrent Diffusion Model for Probabilistic Time Series Forecasting

Time series forecasting (TSF) consists of point prediction and probabilistic forecasting. Unlike point forecasting which predicts an expected value of a future target, probabilistic time series forecasting models the uncertainty in data by predicting the distribution of future values, which enhances decision-making flexibility and improves risk management. Traditional probabilistic forecasting methods usually assume a fixed distribution of data, which is not always true for time series. Recently, there have been efforts to adapt diffusion models for time series owing to their exceptional ability to model the distribution of data without prior assumptions. However, how to apply advantages of diffusion models to time series forecasting remains a substantial challenge due to specific issues in time series such as distribution drift and complex dynamic temporal patterns.