Noise

In common use, the word noise means any unwanted sound. In both analog and digital electronics, noise is an

unwanted perturbation to a wanted signal; it is called noise as a generalisation of the audible noise heard when
listening to a weak radio transmission. Signal noise is heard as acoustic noise if played through a loudspeaker; it
manifests as 'snow' on a television or video image. Noise can block, distort, change or interfere with the meaning of
a message in human, animal and electronic communication.

In signal processing or computing it can be considered unwanted data without meaning; that is, data that is not being
used to transmit a signal, but is simply produced as an unwanted by-product of other activities. "Signal-to-noise
ratio" is sometimes used informally to refer to the ratio of useful information to false or irrelevant data in a
conversation or exchange, such as off-topic posts and spamin online discussion forums and other online
communities. In information theory, however, noise is still considered to be information.[citation needed] In a broader
sense, film grain or even advertisements encountered while looking for something else can be considered noise. In
biology, noise can describe the variability of a measurement around the mean, for example transcriptional
noise describes the variability in gene activity between cells in a population.

Types Of Noise
1. Internal Noise

This is the noise wholly created within the receiver and is sometimes referred to as self-

generated noise or a receiver’s Noise Figure (NF). This noise level is limited on the low end by

thermal noise introduced in the first RF amplifier or preamp. At room temperature you can never

have noise level lower than -174 dBm/Hz. There are exotic applications like super cooling that

reduce this level, but at a high price tag. Commonly adding to the thermal noise is the loss in the

input filter or preselector. The simplest way to measure NF of a receiver is to terminate the input

into a matched resistive load and look at the noise power level relative to a calibrated sine wave.

Internal noise is classified as:

1.Thermal noise
Johnson–Nyquist noise (sometimes thermal, Johnson or Nyquist noise) is unavoidable, and generated
by the random thermal motion of charge carriers (usually electrons), inside an electrical conductor,
which happens regardless of any applied voltage.

Thermal noise is approximately white, meaning that its power spectral density is nearly equal throughout
the frequency spectrum. The amplitude of the signal has very nearly a Gaussian probability density function. A
communication system affected by thermal noise is often modelled as an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN)
channel.

The root mean square (RMS) voltage due to thermal noise vn, generated in a resistance R (ohms) over bandwidth
Δf (hertz), is given by

where kB is Boltzmann's constant (joules per kelvin) and T is the resistor's absolute temperature (kelvin).

As the amount of thermal noise generated depends upon the temperature of the circuit, very sensitive circuits
such as preamplifiers in radio telescopes are sometimes cooled in liquid nitrogen to reduce the noise level.

2.Shot noise
Shot noise in electronic devices consists of unavoidable random statistical fluctuations of the electric
current in an electrical conductor. Random fluctuations are inherent when current flows, as the current is a
flow of discrete charges (electrons).
3.Flicker noise
Flicker noise, also known as 1/f noise, is a signal or process with a frequency spectrum that falls off steadily
into the higher frequencies, with a pink spectrum. It occurs in almost all electronic devices, and results from a
variety of effects, though always related to a direct current.

4.Burst noise
Burst noise consists of sudden step-like transitions between two or more levels (non-Gaussian), as high as
several hundred millivolts, at random and unpredictable times. Each shift in offset voltage or current lasts for
several milliseconds, and the intervals between pulses tend to be in the audio range (less than 100 Hz), leading
to the term popcorn noise for the popping or crackling sounds it produces in audio circuits.

5.Avalanche noise
A junction phenomenon in a semiconductor in which carriers in a high-voltage gradient develop sufficient
energy to dislodge additional carriers through physical impact; this agitation creates ragged current flows
which are indicated by noise. This is the noise produced when a junction diode is operated at the onset
of avalanche breakdown.

2. External noise
This is any signal source that is introduced into the receiver from the antenna that is not

part of the usable signal spectrum. These undesirable noise sources can come from: (a) radio

stations and other man-made emitters; (b) lightning strikes and other atmospheric events

including solar flares; (c) galactic or cosmic noise. The sum of these noise contributions can

vary significantly though there is considerably more noise power as you go lower in frequency.

The plot (figure 1) graphs these noise sources. The solid lines represent the average total noise

power for four different geographic areas from quite rural to business or industrial. It seems

reasonable to expect that the contribution of man-made noise is higher in industrial locations and

lower in less populated rural areas

External noise is classified into:

1.Atmospheric noise

Atmospheric noise is radio noise caused by natural atmospheric processes, primarily lightning
discharges in thunderstorms.

Atmospheric noise is mainly caused by cloud-to-ground flashes as the current is much stronger
than for cloud-to-cloud flashes. On a worldwide scale, eight million lightning flashes occur daily.
This is about 100 lightning flashes per second.

The sum of all these lightning flashes results in atmospheric noise. It can be observed[1] with a
radio receiver in the form of a combination of white noise (coming from distant thunderstorms)
and impulse noise (coming from a near thunderstorm). The power-sum varies with seasons and
nearness of thunderstorm centers.

2.Industrial noise

Industrial noise is usually considered mainly from the point of view of environmental health
and safety, rather than nuisance, as sustained exposure can cause permanent hearing damage.
Traditionally, workplace noise has been a hazard linked to heavy industries such as ship-
building and associated only with noise induced hearing loss (NIHL). Modern thinking in
occupational safety and health identifies noise as hazardous to worker safety and health in many
places of employment and by a variety of means.
Noise can not only cause hearing impairment (at long-term exposures of over 85 decibels (dB),
known as an exposure action value), but it also acts as a causal factor for stress and raises
systolic blood pressure.