Physical Status Representation in Multiple Administrative Optical Networks by Federated Unsupervised Learning

We present our data-collection and deep neural network (DNN)-training scheme for extracting the optical status from signals received by digital coherent optical receivers in fiber-optic networks. The DNN is trained with unlabeled datasets across multiple administrative network domains by combining federated learning and unsupervised learning. The scheme allows network administrators to train a common DNN-based encoder that extracts optical status in their networks without revealing their private datasets. An early-stage proof of concept was numerically demonstrated by simulation by estimating the optical signal-to-noise ratio and modulation format with 64-GBd 16QAM and quadrature phase-shift keying signals.