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Chapter 2
Noise, Nonlinear Distortion and
System Parameters
Department of Telecommunications
Faculty of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Ho Chi Minh city University of Technology
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 1
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
Contents
1. General Considerations
2. Nonlinear Distortion in Microwave System
3. Noise in RF/Microwave System
1. Units in RF Design
Units in RF Design:
• The voltage gain and power gain are expressed in decibels (dB):
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴𝑣 𝑑𝐵 = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴𝑃 𝑑𝐵 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑃𝑖𝑛
• These two quantities are equal (in dB) only if the input and output voltages appear
across equal impedances. For example, an amplifier having an input resistance of
R0 (50Ω) and driving a load resistance of R0 satisfies the following equations:
2
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑅0 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐴𝑃 𝑑𝐵 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔 2 = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔 = 𝐴𝑣 𝑑𝐵
𝑃𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑖𝑛
𝑅0
• The absolute signal levels are often expressed in dBm rather than watts or volts.
The unit dBm refers to “dBs” above “1mW”. To express the signal power, Psig, in
dBm, we write:
𝑃𝑠𝑖𝑔
𝑃𝑠𝑖𝑔 𝑑𝐵𝑚 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔
1 𝑚𝑊
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 3
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
1. Units in RF Design
Example 1: An amplifier senses a sinusoidal signal and delivers a power of 0 dBm to a
load resistance of 50Ω. Determine the peak-to-peak voltage swing across the load.
Solution: 0dBm is equivalent to 1mW, we have:
2
𝑉𝑃𝑃
= 1𝑚𝑊
8𝑅𝐿
𝑉𝑃𝑃 = 632𝑚𝑉.
Output voltage of the amplifier is of interest in the above example. This may occur if
the circuit following the amplifier does not present a 50Ω input impedance, and hence
the power gain and voltage gain are not equal in dB.
Only for a sinusoid can we assume that the rms value is equal to the peak-to-peak value
divided by 2 2. Fortunately, for a narrowband 0-dBm signal, it is still possible to
approximate the (average) peak-to-peak swing as 632mV.
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 4
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
1. General Considerations
Example 2: A GSM receiver senses a narrowband (modulated) signal having a level of
-100dBm. If the front-end amplifier provides a voltage gain of 15 dB, calculate the
peak-to-peak voltage swing at the output of the amplifier.
Solution:
• -100dBm is 100 dB below 632 mVpp.
• 100 dB for voltage quantities is equivalent to 105.
• Thus, -100 dBm is equivalent to 6.32𝜇𝑉𝑃𝑃 .
• This input level is amplified by 15𝑑𝐵 ≈ 5.62, resulting in an output swing of
35.5 𝜇𝑉𝑃𝑃 .
1. Nonlinearity
A system is called “memoryless” or “static” if its output does not depend on the past
values of its input.
For a memoryless linear system, the input/output characteristic is given by:
𝑦 𝑡 = 𝛼𝑥(𝑡)
For a memoryless nonlinear system, the input/output characteristic can be approximated
with a polynomial:
𝑦 𝑡 = 𝛼0 + 𝛼1 𝑥 𝑡 + 𝛼2 𝑥 2 𝑡 + +𝛼3 𝑥 3 𝑡 + ⋯
The following figure shows a common-source stage as an example of a memoryless
nonlinear circuit (at low frequencies). If M1 operates in the saturation region and can be
approximated as a square-law device, then
1
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑉𝐷𝐷 − 𝐼𝐷 𝑅𝐷 = 𝑉𝐷𝐷 − 𝑘𝑛 𝑉𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑇𝐻 2 𝑅𝐷
2
1. Nonlinearity
Example 3: The MOS transistors operating in saturation, characteristic can be
expressed as
1 4𝐼𝑆𝑆 2
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 = − 𝑘𝑛 𝑉𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝐷
2 𝑘𝑛
If the differential input is small, approximate the characteristic by a polynomial.
Solution:
2 4𝐼𝐷𝑆𝑆
• Assuming 𝑉𝑖𝑛 ≪ and applying the approximation 1 − 𝜀 ≈ 1 − 𝜀/2, we have
𝑘
𝑘𝑛 2
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ≈ − 𝑘𝑛 𝐼𝐷𝑆𝑆 𝑉𝑖𝑛 1 − 𝑉 𝑅
8𝐼𝐷𝑆𝑆 𝑖𝑛 𝐷
3
𝑘𝑛 2 3
𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 ≈ − 𝑘𝑛 𝐼𝐷𝑆𝑆 𝑅𝐷 𝑉𝑖𝑛 + 𝑅𝐷 𝑉𝑖𝑛
8 𝐼𝐷𝑆
• The first term on the right-hand side represents linear
operation, revealing the small signal voltage gain of the
circuit (−𝑔𝑚 𝑅𝐷 ).
• Due to symmetry, even-order nonlinear terms are absent.
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 7
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
𝑣𝑜 = 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 𝑣𝑖 + 𝑎2 𝑣𝑖2 + 𝑎3 𝑣𝑖3 + ⋯
𝑣𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡
2 3
𝑣0 𝑡 = 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝑎3 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡 +⋯
1 3 1 1
= 𝑎0 + 𝑎2 𝑉02 + 𝑎1 𝑉0 + 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑉02 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠3𝜔0 𝑡 + ⋯
2 4 2 4
Problems:
More signal loss and distortion.
Interference to other systems.
Sometimes can be used to create
frequency multipliers.
GSM900 Band
The mixer now produces two “spurious” component at 𝜔1 + 3𝜔2 and 𝜔1 − 3𝜔2 ,
one or both of which often prove problematic. For example, if 𝜔1 = 2𝜋 × 850𝑀𝐻𝑧 and
𝜔2 = 2𝜋 × 900𝑀𝐻𝑧, then 𝜔1 − 3𝜔2 = 2𝜋 × 1850𝑀𝐻𝑧, an undesired component that is
difficult to filter out because it lies close to the desired component at 𝜔1 + 3𝜔2 =
2𝜋 ×1750MHz.
𝟑
𝒂𝟏 𝑽𝟎 + 𝟒 𝒂𝟑 𝑽𝟑𝟎 𝟑
Fundamental GAIN: 𝑮 = = 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒂𝟑 𝑽𝟐𝟎
𝑽𝟎 𝟒
14
Most RF/microwave
component/circuits
Expansive are compressive ! Compressive
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
𝟑
𝟐𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒂𝟏 + 𝒂𝟑 𝑽𝟐𝒊𝒏,𝟏𝒅𝑩 = 𝟐𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒂𝟏 − 𝟏
𝟒
𝒂𝟏
𝑽𝒊𝒏,𝟏𝒅𝑩 = 𝟎. 𝟏𝟒𝟓
𝒂𝟑
Amplitude Modulation:
3 3
vo ... a1V1 a3V13 a3V23 cos 0t ...
4 2
desired
𝟐𝝎𝟐 − 𝝎𝟏 = 𝝎𝟎
𝑣𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡
1 1
= 𝑎0 + 𝑎1 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑎1 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑉02 1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑉02 1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔2 𝑡
2 2
+ 𝑎2 𝑉02 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔1 − 𝜔2 𝑡 + 𝑎2 𝑉02 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜔1 + 𝜔2 𝑡
3 1 3 1
+ 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠3𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠3𝜔2 𝑡
4 4 4 4
3 3 3
+ 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝟐𝝎𝟏 − 𝝎𝟐 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔1 + 𝜔2 𝑡
2 4 4
3 3 3
+ 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝟐𝝎𝟐 − 𝝎𝟏 𝑡 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔2 + 𝜔1 𝑡 + ⋯
2 4 4
Harmonics Formulation
DC 𝑎0 + 𝑎2 𝑉02
3 3
Fundamental 𝑎1 𝑉0 + 𝑎3 𝑉0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔1 𝑡 + 𝑎1 𝑉0 + 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡
3
4 4
3
𝑎3 𝑽𝟑𝟎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔1 − 𝜔2 𝑡
4
3
𝑎3 𝑽𝟑𝟎 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔2 − 𝜔1 𝑡
4
3 4 𝑎1
𝑎1 𝑉𝐼𝐼𝑃3 = 𝑎3 𝑽𝟑𝑰𝑰𝑷𝟑 → 𝑉𝐼𝐼𝑃3 =
4 3 𝑎3
𝑎1 𝑉 4
𝑉1𝑑𝐵 = 0.145 → 𝐼𝐼𝑃3 = ≃ 9.6𝑑𝐵
𝑎3 𝑉1𝑑𝐵 0.435
Thus:
4 𝑎1
𝐼𝐼𝑃3 = = 3.65𝑉𝑃 = 15.2(𝑑𝐵𝑚)
30 𝑎3
Then:
3
𝑣𝑜 𝑡 = 𝑉0 1 + 𝑚𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑚 𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔2 𝑡 𝑎1 𝑉0 + 𝑎3 𝑉03 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔0 𝑡
4
3. Thermal Noise
A resistor not connected to anything can have a voltage across it.
The average voltage is of course 0 and its amplitude is random and very small
Random motion of charge carriers produce a random variation of voltage (or current)
with respect to time noise voltage and/or noise current.
A conductor (equivalently a resistor) has lots of charge carriers.
The higher the temperature, the more random motion, and therefore the higher the
noise.
Higher temperature
3. Thermal Noise
The noisy resistor can be replaced
with a Thevenin equivalent circuit
of a noiseless resistor and a random
noise voltage generator Vn.
4ℎ𝑓𝐵𝑅
It can be shown that *: 𝑉𝑛2 = ℎ𝑓
h = 6.626 x 10-34 J∙s, Planck’s constant
k = 1.38 x 10-23 J/K, Boltzmann’s constant
𝑒 𝑘𝑇 −1
B, bandwidth in Hz
ℎ𝑓
ℎ𝑓 f, center frequency of the bandwidth
At low frequencies (f < 5 THz), 𝑒 𝑘𝑇 −1≃ :
𝑘𝑇 R, resistance in Ω
T, temperature in Kelvin
Noise voltage: 𝑽𝒏 = 𝟒𝒌𝑻𝑩𝑹
𝟐
𝑽𝒏
Maximum Noise Power: 𝑷𝒏 = 𝑹 = 𝒌𝑻𝑩
𝟐𝑹
𝑷𝒏 𝒅𝑩𝒎 = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 𝟏. 𝟑𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐𝟑 𝑻𝑩 = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 𝑻𝑩 − 𝟏𝟑𝟖. 𝟓
𝑇 = 290𝐾, 𝐵 = 1𝐻𝑧 → 𝑷𝒏 = −𝟏𝟕𝟒𝒅𝑩𝒎
When: 𝑇 = 290𝐾, 𝐵 = 1𝐾𝐻𝑧 → 𝑷𝒏 = −𝟏𝟒𝟒𝒅𝑩𝒎
𝑇 = 290𝐾, 𝐵 = 1𝑀𝐻𝑧 → 𝑷𝒏 = −𝟏𝟏𝟒𝒅𝑩𝒎
* For derivation, refer to: http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~dmw/ast203/Lectures/Lect_20.pdf
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 34
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
3. Thermal Noise
At most RF and microwave frequencies, the thermal noise from a resistor appear
uniform with respect to frequency, as is evident from the absence of a frequency
variable in the Vn expression.
We call this type of frequency independent noise “white noise”.
3. Noise Figure
Noise Figure: measures the degradation in the signal to noise ratio between the input
and output of the component.
𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍
Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR): 𝑆𝑁𝑅 =
𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍
It is important to understand that while amplifiers are great at making your signal
stronger, they also make noise stronger!
Noise Factor (linear scale):
𝑺𝑵𝑹𝒊𝒏
𝐹=
𝑺𝑵𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒕
Noise Figure (dB scale): 𝑁𝐹 = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎 𝑭
3. Noise Figure
Example 10: Consider a device of bandwidth 𝐵 = 20𝑀𝐻𝑧 and having a gain 𝐺 =
60𝑑𝐵 with noise figure of 𝑁𝐹 = 5𝑑𝐵. What is the noise power seen at the output of the
device?
Solution:
Nout = -35.82dBm.
3. Noise Figure
The noise contributions from subsequent stages are suppressed by the preceding
stages. It follows that the first stage in a cascade system needs to have low noise and
high gain.
Amplifiers specifically designed to do this are called low noise amplifiers (LNA).
LNAs are often designed for the lowest noise, sacrificing efficiency, linearity,
and even gain.
To a large extent, LNAs determine the system sensitivity.
𝑁1 = 𝐺1 𝑘𝑇0 𝐵 + 𝐺1 𝑘𝑇𝑒1 𝐵 𝑁0 = 𝐺2 𝑁1 + 𝐺2 𝑘𝑇𝑒2 𝐵
1
= 𝐺1 𝐺2 𝑘𝐵 𝑇0 + 𝑇𝑒1 + 𝑇
𝐺1 𝑒2
𝑇𝑒2 𝑇𝑒3
𝑇𝐶𝐴𝑆 = 𝑇𝑒1 + + +⋯
𝐺1 𝐺1 𝐺2
𝑇𝑒 = (𝐹 − 1)𝑇0
𝐹2 − 1 𝐹3 − 1
𝐹𝐶𝐴𝑆 = 𝐹1 + + +⋯
𝐺1 𝐺1 𝐺2
3. Noise Figure
Example 11: The block diagram of a wireless receiver front-end is shown in following
figure. Compute the overall noise figure of this subsystem. If the input noise power
from a feeding antenna is 𝑁𝑖 = 𝑘𝑇𝐴 𝐵, where 𝑇𝐴 = 150𝐾, find the output noise power in
dBm. If we require a minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 20𝑑𝐵 at the output of the
receiver, what is the minimum signal voltage that should be applied at the receiver
input? Assume the system is at temperature 𝑇𝑜 , with a characteristic impedance of 50Ω
and an IF bandwidth of 10MHz.
Solution:
3. Noise Figure
We have:
𝐺𝑎 = 10𝑑𝐵 = 10 𝐺𝑓 = −1𝑑𝐵 = 0.79 𝐺𝑚 = −3𝑑𝐵 = 0.5
𝐹𝑎 = 2𝑑𝐵 = 1.58 𝐹𝑓 = 1𝑑𝐵 = 1.26 𝐹𝑚 = 4𝑑𝐵 = 2.51
The overall noise figure of the system:
𝐹𝑓 −1 𝐹𝑚 −1 1.26−1 2.51−1
𝐹 = 𝐹𝑎 + + = 1.58 + + = 1.8 = 2.55𝑑𝐵
𝐺𝑎 𝐺𝑎 𝐺𝑓 10 10×0.79
𝑁0 = 𝑘𝑇𝐵
We can also treat the input resistor as the signal source, then the output noise power
should be:
1 1
𝑁0 = 𝑘𝑇𝐵 + 𝑘𝑇𝑒 𝐵
𝐴 𝐴
Equating the two equation gives: 𝑇𝑒 = 𝐴 − 1 𝑇
Also we have: 𝑇𝑒 = 𝐹 − 1 𝑇. Finally, 𝐹 = 𝐴.
𝑁𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝑁𝑖𝑛 × 𝐺 × 𝐹
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgXKS0yJ1-E
Dept. of Telecoms Engineering 42
Dung Trinh, PhD HCMUT / 2019
3. Noise Figure
Example 12: An X-band amplifier has a gain of 20 dB and a 1 GHz bandwidth. Its
equivalent noise temperature is to be measured via the Y-factor method. The following
data are obtained:
For 𝑇1 = 290𝐾, 𝑁1 = −62𝑑𝐵𝑚
For 𝑇2 = 77𝐾, 𝑁2 = −64.7𝑑𝐵𝑚
Determine the equivalent noise temperature of the amplifier. If the amplifier is used
with a source having an equivalent noise temperature of 𝑇𝑆 = 450𝐾, what is the output
noise power from the amplifier, in dBm?
Solution:
3. Sensitivity
Sensitivity: Minimum detectable signal by the receiver according to a fixed SNR
determined by the BER.
Q&A