A Kernel Design Approach to Improve Kernel Subspace Identification

Subspace identification methods, such as canonical variate analysis (CVA), are noniterative tools suitable for the state-space modeling of multi-input, multi-output processes, e.g., industrial processes, using input-output data. To learn nonlinear system behavior, kernel subspace techniques are commonly used. However, the issue of kernel design must be given more attention because the type of kernel can influence the kind of nonlinearities that the model can capture. In this article, a new kernel design is proposed for CVA-based identification, which is a mixture of a global and local kernel to enhance generalization ability and includes a mechanism to vary the influence of each process variable into the model response. During validation, model hyper-parameters were tuned using random search. The overall method is called feature-relevant mixed kernel CVA (FR-MKCVA). Using an evaporator case study, the trained FR-MKCVA models show a better fit to observed data than those of single-kernel CVA, linear CVA, and neural net models under both interpolation and extrapolation scenarios. This work provides a basis for future exploration of deep and diverse kernel designs for system identification.