Prony's method for exponential lifetime estimations in fluorescence-based thermometers

Noniterative algorithms using Prony's method are proposed for the estimation of the exponential lifetime in fluorescence-based fiber-optic sensor systems. The uses of a variety of Prony's algorithms are evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations. It is shown that the performance of Prony's algorithms is quite close to that of Marquardt algorithms and they are the better alternatives to their Marquardt counterparts, when illustrated for real-time applications in temperature sensors with a 98% decrease in running time. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.