NOISE

Objectives

● List the major types of external and internal noise and

explain how each interferes with signals both before and
after they reach the receiver.
● Calculate the noise factor, noise figure, and noise
temperature of a receiver.
Noise

● 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.
● Is not the same as interference from other information
signals.
● It is a problem in communication systems whenever the
received signals are very low in amplitude.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio

● also designated SNR

● indicates the relative strengths of the signal and the noise in a
communication system.
● Signals can be expressed in terms of voltage or power. The S/N ratio is
computed by using either voltage or power values:
External Noise

● comes from sources over which we have little or no

control— industrial, atmospheric, or space.
● noise shows up as a random ac voltage and can be
seen on an oscilloscope.
● One can say that noise in general contains all
frequencies, varying randomly. This is generally
known as white noise.
External Noise

● Atmospheric noise and space noise are a fact of life

and simply cannot be eliminated.
● Some industrial noise can be controlled at the source,
but because there are so many sources of this type of
noise, there is no way to eliminate it.
Industrial Noise

● produced by manufactured equipment, such as

automotive ignition systems, electric motors, and
generators.
● Any electrical equipment that causes high voltages
or currents to be switched produces transients that
create noise.
Atmospheric Noise

● Static
● Static usually comes from lightning, the electric
discharges that occur between clouds or between the
earth and clouds.
● shows up primarily as amplitude variations that add to a
signal and interfere with it.
● Atmospheric noise has its greatest impact on signals at
frequencies below 30 MHz.
Extraterrestrial Noise

● One of the primary sources of extraterrestrial noise is the sun,

which radiates a wide range of signals in a broad noise spectrum.
● The noise intensity produced by the sun varies with time.
● The sun has a repeatable 11-year noise cycle.
● Noise generated by stars outside our solar system is generally
known as cosmic noise.
● It shows up primarily in the 10-MHz to 1.5-GHz range but causes
the greatest disruptions in the 15- to 150-MHz range.
Internal Noise

● Electronic components in a receiver such as

resistors, diodes, and transistors are major sources
of internal noise.
● The main sources of internal noise in a receiver are
thermal noise, semiconductor noise, and
intermodulation distortion.
Thermal Noise

● caused by a phenomenon known as thermal agitation, the

random motion of free electrons in a conductor caused by
heat.
● Thermal agitation is often referred to as white noise or
Johnson noise, after J. B. Johnson, who discovered it in 1928.
● A white noise signal therefore occupies, theoretically at
least, infinite bandwidth.
● Filtered or band-limited noise is referred to as pink noise.
Thermal Noise

● The amount of open-circuit noise voltage appearing across a resistor or the

input impedance to a receiver can be calculated according to Johnson’s
formula
Example

● What is the average noise power of a device operating at a temperature of

90°F with a bandwidth of 30 kHz?
Semiconductor Noise

● Electronic components such as diodes and

transistors are major contributors of noise.
● In addition to thermal noise, semiconductors
produce shot noise, transit-time noise, and flicker
noise.
● The most common type of semiconductor noise is
shot noise.
Shot Noise

● Current flow in any device is not direct and linear.

● The current carriers, electrons or holes, sometimes take random
paths from source to destination, whether the destination is an
output element, tube plate, or collector or drain in a transistor.
● It is this random movement that produces the shot effect.
● Shot noise is also produced by the random movement of electrons or
holes across a PN junction.
● Shot noise is also white noise in that it contains all frequencies and
amplitudes over a very wide range.
Shot Noise

● The amplitude of the noise voltage is unpredictable, but it does follow a

Gaussian distribution curve that is a plot of the probability that specific
amplitudes will occur.
● The amount of shot noise is directly proportional to the amount of dc bias
flowing in a device.
● The bandwidth of the device or circuit is also important. The rms noise
current in a device In is calculated with the formula
Transit-time noise

● refers to how long it takes for a current carrier such as a hole or electron to
move from the input to the output.
● At low frequencies, this time is negligible; but when the frequency of
operation is high and the period of the signal being processed is the same
order of magnitude as the transit time, problems can occur.
Flicker noise
● excess noise
● also occurs in resistors and conductors.
● This disturbance is the result of minute random variations of resistance in
the semiconductor material.
● It is directly proportional to current and temperature. However, it is
inversely proportional to frequency, and for this reason it is sometimes
referred to as 1/f noise.
● Flicker noise is highest at the lower frequencies and thus is not pure white
noise. Because of the dearth of high-frequency components, 1/f noise is also
called pink noise.
Intermodulation Distortion

● results from the generation of new signals and harmonics caused by circuit
nonlinearities.
● Nonlinearities produce modulation or heterodyne effects. Any frequencies
in the circuit mix together, forming sum and difference frequencies.
● When many frequencies are involved, or with pulses or rectangular waves,
the large number of harmonics produces an even larger number of sum and
difference frequencies.
Intermodulation Distortion

● Intermodulation Distortion is also called correlated noise.

● Correlated noise is produced only when signals are present.
● The types of noise discussed earlier are sometimes referred to as
uncorrelated noise.
● Correlated noise is manifested as the low-level signals called birdies. It can
be minimized by good design.
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.
● The device under consideration can be the entire receiver or a single
amplifier stage.
● The noise factor or noise ratio (NR) is computed with the expression
Example

● An RF amplifier has an S/N ratio of 8 at the input and an S/N ratio of 6 at the
output. What are the noise factor and noise figure?
Noise Temperature
● Most of the noise produced in a device is thermal noise, which is directly
proportional to temperature.
● another way to express the noise in an amplifier or receiver
● expressed in kelvins (Tk = Tc + 273)
● The relationship between noise temperature and NR is given by

● Noise temperature is used only in circuits or equipment that operates at VHF,

UHF, or microwave frequencies. The noise factor or noise figure is used at lower
frequencies.
Example
SINAD
● Another way of expressing the quality and sensitivity of communication
receivers
● the composite signal plus the noise and distortion divided by noise and
distortion contributed by the receiver.

● Distortion refers to the harmonics present in a signal caused by nonlinearities.

SINAD

● The SINAD ratio is also used to express the sensitivity of a receiver

● To obtain the SINAD ratio, an RF signal modulated by an audio signal
(usually of 400 Hz or 1 kHz) is applied to the input of an amplifier or a
receiver. The composite output is then measured, giving the S + N + D
figure. Next, a highly selective notch (band-reject) filter is used to eliminate
the modulating audio signal from the output, leaving the noise and
distortion, or N + D.
● The SINAD is a power ratio, and it is almost always expressed in decibels:
SINAD

● SINAD is the most often used measure of sensitivity for FM receivers used in
two-way radios.
● It can also be used for AM and SSB radios.
● Sensitivity is quoted as a microvolt level that will deliver a 12-dB SINAD. It
has been determined that voice can be adequately recovered intelligently
with a 12-dB SINAD value.
● A typical sensitivity rating may be 0.35 microvolt for a 12-dB SINAD.
Noise in the Microwave Region
● Noise is an important consideration at all communication frequencies, but it
is particularly critical in the microwave region because noise increases with
bandwidth and affects high-frequency signals more than low-frequency
signals.
● The limiting factor in most microwave communication systems, such as
satellites, radar, and radio telescope astronomy, is internal noise.
● In some special microwave receivers, the noise level is reduced by cooling
the input stages to the receiver.
● This technique is called operating with cryogenic conditions, the term
cryogenic referring to very cold conditions approaching absolute zero.
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 first stage of the receiver, usually an RF amplifier or mixer.
● Design of these circuits must ensure the use of very low-noise
components, taking into consideration current, resistance,
bandwidth, and gain figures in the circuit.
● Beyond the first and second stages, noise is basically no longer a
problem.
● The formula used to calculate the overall noise performance of a receiver or
of multiple stages of RF amplification, called Friis’ formula, is
● the noise ratio is used, rather than the noise figure, and so the gains are
given in power ratios rather than in decibels.