Noise

What is noise?
- Noise is a term generally used to refer to
any undesired disturbances that mask the
received signal in a communication system.
- Noise that occurs in transmitting digital
data causes bit errors and can result in information
being garbled or lost.
- An electronic signal that is a mixture of many
random frequencies at many amplitudes that gets
added to a radio or information signal as it is
transmitted from one place to another or as it is
processed.
Signal -to-Noise Ratio (SNR)
• It is defined as the ratio of signal power to noise
power , often expressed in decibels.
The signal to noise ratio is given by:
S Signal Power

N Noise Power
The signal to noise in dB is expressed by:

S S
  dB  10 log 10  
N
  N
 

S 
  dB S dBm  N dBm for S and N measured in mW.
N
External Noise
• The various form of noise created outside the receiver
come under the heading of external noise and include
atmospheric, industrial and extraterrestrial noise.
• Noise in general contains all frequencies, varying
random. This is generally known as white noise.
Industrial Noise
• Produced by manufactured equipment, such as automotive
ignition systems, electric motors and generators.
Atmospheric Noise
• This noise is also called static noise and is the natural
sources of disturbances caused by lightning discharge in
thunderstorm and the natural disturbances occurring in
nature.
Extraterrestrial Noise
• Noise from outside the earth includes:
solar – noise originated from the sun
cosmic – noise generated by stars outside our solar system
 Internal Noise
• Electronic components in a receiver such as resistors,
diodes and transistors are major sources of internal
noise. Although it is low level, is often great enough to
interfere with weak signal.

Thermal Noise
Also known as Johnson Noise or Nyquist noise,
unavoidable and generated by the random motion of
free electrons in a conductor caused by heat.
• the input impedance to a receiver can be calculated according
to Johnson’s formula:
Vn = 4 k T R 
where :
υn = rms noise voltage
k = Boltzman’s constant (1.38 3 10223 J/K)
T= temperature, K (°C 1 273)
B = bandwidth, Hz
R= resistance, V
• Thermal noise can also be computed as a power level.
Pn = kTB
where : Pn is the average noise power in watts.
 Semiconductor Noise
• Electronic component such as diodes and transistors are
major contributors of noise.
semiconductor produce shot noise, transit-time noise and
flicker noise.
• Shot Noise
- discrete nature of electrons causes a signal disturbance
- deviation of the actual number of electrons from the
average number is known as shot noise
- present for BOTH current: Signal and dark current.
- most common type of semiconductor
• The rms noise current in a device In is calculated
with the formula:
In = 2qIB

Where:
q = charge on an electron, 1.6 X 10^-19 C
I = direct current,
B = bandwidth, Hz
• Transit-time noise
- another kind of noise that occurs in transistors
- the term transit time refers to how long it takes for a
current carrier such as a hole or electron to move from the
input to the output
- directly proportional to the frequency
• Flicker noise or excess noise
- Also occurs in resistors and conductors.
- It is directly proportional to current and temperature.
- Highest at the lower frequencies and thus is not pure white noise
• Intermodulation Distortion
–  is the amplitude modulation of signals containing two or
more different frequencies, caused by nonlinearities or time
variance in a system.
Correlated noise
- is produced only when signals are present
- is manifested as the low-level signals called birdies

Uncorrelated noise
- It is the relationship between two unwanted signals.
If they are from different sources they are
usually uncorrelated.
Expressing Noise Levels
The noise quality of a receiver can be expressed as in terms of noise figure, noise factor, noise
temperature, and SINAD.

Noise Factor and Noise Figure

- The noise factor is the ratio of the S/N power at the input to the S/N power at the output.

S/N input
NR = -----------------
S/N output
When the noise factor is expressed in decibels, it is called the
noise figure (NF):
NF = 10 log NR (dB)
Noise Temperature
-The noise temperature is a means for specifying noise in terms of an
equivalent temperature.
- Directly proportional to temperature in degrees Kelvin and that noise
power collapses to zero at absolute zero (0°K).
- The "290" in the expression is used to denote a standardized temperature
in Kelvin.
TN = 290(NR - 1)

SINAD
Another way of expressing the quality and sensitivity of communication
receivers is SINAD—the composite signal plus the noise and distortion
divided by noise and distortion contributed by the receiver.

SINAD = S + N + D (composite signal)

N + D (receiver)
Distortion refers to the harmonics present in a signal caused by
nonlinearities

The SINAD is a power ratio, and it is almost always

expressed in decibels:
10 logS + N 1+D
SINAD = ------------------------ (dB)
N+D

Noise in Cascaded Stages

Noise has its greatest effect at the input to a receiver simply because
that is the point at
which the signal level is lowest. The noise performance of a receiver is
invariably determined
in the very fi rst stage of the receiver, usually an RF amplifi er