A method for measuring Brillouin backscattering from an optical fiber, includes frequency mixing a first signal with a frequency representative of the Brillouin frequency shift in backscattered light received from a deployed optical fiber with a second signal at a frequency that varies in time in the same manner as a Brillouin shift previously measured from the fiber to produce a difference signal with a difference frequency that has a nominally constant value corresponding to the situation where the received light has a Brillouin shift that matches the previously measured shift. The difference signal is acquired and processed to determine properties of the Brillouin shift and corresponding physical parameters producing the shift. The frequency mixing can be carried out optically or electrically. Techniques for acquisition of the difference signal include the use of parallel frequency measurement channels and fast rate digital sampling.