Comparative Analysis on the Deployment of Machine Learning Algorithms in the Distributed Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis (BOTDA) Fiber Sensor

This paper demonstrates a comparative analysis of five machine learning (ML) algorithms for improving the signal processing time and temperature prediction accuracy in Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) fiber sensor. The algorithms analyzed were generalized linear model (GLM), deep learning (DL), random forest (RF), gradient boosted trees (GBT), and support vector machine (SVM). In this proof-of-concept experiment, the performance of each algorithm was investigated by pairing Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) with its corresponding temperature reading in the training dataset. It was found that all of the ML algorithms have significantly reduced the signal processing time to be between 3.5 and 655 times faster than the conventional Lorentzian curve fitting (LCF) method. Furthermore, the temperature prediction accuracy and temperature measurement precision made by some algorithms were comparable, and some were even better than the conventional LCF method. The results obtained from the experiments would provide some general idea in deploying ML algorithm for characterizing the Brillouin-based fiber sensor signals.