2 types of noise

External noise
Internal noise
External Noise
1.Atmospheric Noise
2.Extraterrestrial Noise
3.Industrial Noise
Atmospheric Noise
It is generally called static.
It is the result of spurious radio
waves which induce voltages in the
antenna.
The majority of these radio waves
come from natural sources of
disturbances.
Static is caused by
lightning discharges in
thunderstorms and other
natural electric
disturbances occurring in
the atmosphere.

It originates in the form of amplitude-

modulated impulses, & bcoz such processes
are random in nature, it is spread over most of
the RF spectrum normally used for
broadcasting.
The usual increase in its level takes place at
night, at both broadcast & shortwave
frequencies.
Atmospheric noise becomes less severe at
frequencies above about 30 MHz bcoz of two
separate factors.
First, the higher frequencies are limited to
(LOS) Line of Sight propagation, i.e. less
than 80 km or so.
Second, the nature of the mechanism
generating this noise is such that very little of
it is created in the VHF range & above.
Extraterrestrial
Noise
Solar Noise
2 Types
1)Under normal quiet
conditions, there is a
constant noise radiation
from the sun, simply bcoz it
is a large body at a very high
temperature(over 6000C).

2) The solar cycle disturbances repeat themselves

approx. every 11 years.
Solar Cycle
One of the ways solar physicists monitor the solar cycle
is by studying the surface of the sun for dark splotches
called sunspots.
Sunspots sometimes erupt into powerful solar storms
that shoot streams of charged particles into space,
occasionally in the direction of Earth.
Some powerful solar storms can bombard Earth's
magnetic field and disrupt power grids (causing
blackouts over large areas if there is heavy loading on
the system when they occur).
It can cause total blackouts of radio and other
communication, and satellites are zapped by electrical
charges or pulled down from their orbits.
Cosmic Noise
Since distant stars are also suns & have
very high temperatures, they radiate RF
noise in the same manner as our sun.
What they lack in nearness they nearly
make up in numbers w/c in combination
can become significant.
The noise received is called thermal or
(black-body) noise & is distributed
uniformly over the entire sky.
We also receive noise from the center
of our own galaxy & from other
galaxies, & from other virtual point
sources such as quasars & pulsars.

This galactic noise is very intense, but

it comes from sources w/c are only
point in the sky. Two of the strongest
sources are: Cassiopeia A & Cygnus A.
Quasars
Pulsars
Cassiopeia A & Cygnus A
Industrial Noise
 Between the frequencies of 1 to 600
MHz the intensity of noise made by
humans easily outstrips that created
by any other source, internal or
external to the receiver.
Sources are automobile & aircraft
ignition, electric motors & switching
equipment, leakage from HV lines &
a multitude of other heavy electric
machines
Internal Noise
Thermal Agitation Noise
The noise generated in a resistance
or the resistive component is
random & is referred to as thermal,
agitation, white or Johnson noise.
It is due to the rapid & random
motion of the molecules (atoms %
electrons) inside the component
itself.
 Pn = kTB
Pn Max. noise power output of a resistor
K Boltzmanns constant (1.38 x 10 -23J/K)
B bandwidth of interest
T absolute temperature, K = 273 + C

Vn = 4kTBR
R resistor value
Vn noise voltage
Sample Problem1
An amplifier operating over
the frequency range from 18
to 20 MHz has a 10 k input
resistor. What is the rms
noise voltage at the input to
this amplifier if the ambient
temperature is 27C?
Shot Noise
It is caused by random variations in
the arrival of electrons (or holes) at
the output electrode of an amplifying
& appears as a randomly varying noise
current superimposed on the output.
When amplified, it is supposed to
sound as though a shower of lead shot
were falling on a metal sheet.
 in = 2qIB
Where
in = rms shot noise current
q charge of an electron
(1.6 x 10 -19 C)
I direct diode current
B bandwidth of system
Sample Problem2
A diode noise generator is required
to produce 10 V of noise in a
receiver with input impedance of
75 , resistive, and a noise power
BW of 200 kHz. (These are typical
of FM broadcast receivers.) What
must the current through the diode
be?
 Transit time Noise
If the time taken by an electron to travel
from the emitter to the collector of a
transistor becomes significant to the
period of the signal being amplified, the
so called transit-time effect takes place, &
the noise admittance of the transistor
increases
Once this HF noise makes its presence
felt, it goes on increasing w/ freq at a rate
that soon approaches 6dB/octave.
Miscellaneous
Noise
 Flicker Noise
It is found in transistors at low audio
freq
It is proportional to emitter current &
junction temp, but since it is
inversely proportional to freq
It may be completely ignored above
about 500 Hz.
It is no longer very serious
Resistance Noise
Sometimes called thermal noise, it is also
present in transistors.
It is due to the base, emitter, & collector
internal resistances, & in most
circumstances the base resistance makes
the largest contribution.
From above about 500 Hz, it remains
relatively constant, so that an equivalent
input resistance for shot & thermal noise
may be freely used.
Noise in Mixers
It is caused by two separate effects.
First, conversion transconductance of
mixers is much lower than the
transconductance of amplifiers.
Second, if image frequency rejection is
inadequate, as often happens at
shortwave frequencies, noise associated
w/ the image freq will also be accepted.
Addition of Noise from
Different Sources
Voltages & currents do not add
directly, but the total voltage (of
series circuits) or current (of
parallel circuits) can be found by
taking the square root of the sum
of squares of the individual
voltages or currents.
VNt = V2N1 + V2N2 + V2N3 +

INt = I N1
2 + 2
I N2 + 2
I N3 +
Sample Problem3
The circuit shown in the figure
has two resistors in series at
two different temperatures.
Find the noise voltage and
noise power produced at the
load, over a BW of 100 kHz.
 The circuit
shown in the

figure has two

R1 100

300 K
resistors in
series at two

RL 300
different

temperatures.
R2 200

400 K
Find the noise
voltage and
noise power
produced at
the load, over a
Noise Load
Source BW of 100 kHz.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (S/N)
It is one of the most important specifications
of any communication system.
Its typical values range from about 10 dB for
barely intelligible speech to 90 dB or more for
CD audio system/
There are other variations of the S/N, (S+N)/N
is often found in receiver specs which stands
for the ratio of signal-plus-noise power to
noise power alone.
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (S/N)
SINAD which stands for
(S+N+D)/(N+D), or signal-plus-noise
and distortion, divided by noise and
distortion.
SINAD is usually used instead of S/N in
specs for FM receivers.
Sample Problem4
A receiver produces a noise
power of 200 mW with no
signal. The output level
increases to 5W when a signal is
applied. Calculate (S + N)/N as
a power ratio and in decibels.
Noise Figure (NF)
It is a figure of merit indicating how much a
component, stage, or series of stages degrades
the signal-to-noise ratio of a system.
NF = (S/N)i
(S/N)o

Where : (S/N)i input S/N power ratio (not in

dB)
It is occasionally called Noise Factor.
Very often both S/N and NF are
expressed in dB, in which case we
have:

NF(dB) = 10 log NF(ratio)

Sample Problem5
The signal power at the input
to an amplifier is 100 W and
the noise power is 1 W. At the
output, the signal power is 1 W
and the noise power is 30 mW.
What is the amplifier noise
figure, as a ratio?
Equivalent Noise Temperature
It is another way of specifying the noise
performance of a device.
Noise temperature has nothing to do with the
actual operating temperature of the circuit.
Rather it is the absolute temperature of a
resistor that, connected to the input of a
noiseless amplifier of the same gain, would
produce the same noise at the output as the
device under discussion.
Teq = 290(NF 1)
Sample Problem6
An amplifier has a noise
figure of 2 dB. What is its
equivalent noise
temperature?
Cascaded Amplifiers
When two or more stages are connected
in cascade, as in a receiver, the noise
figure of the first stage is the most
important in determining the noise
performance of the entire system because
noise generated in the first stage is
amplified in all succeeding stages.
 Noise produced in later stages is amplified
less, and noise generated in the last stage is
amplified least of all.

NFT = NF1 + NF2 - 1 + NF3 1 + NF4 1 + . . .

A1 A1A2 A1A2A3
Sample Problem7
A 3-stage amplifier has stages with the
following specs:
Stage Power Gain Noise Figure

1 10 2

2 25 4

3 30 5

Calculate the power gain, noise figure, and

noise temperature for the entire amplifier,
assuming matched conditions.
seatwork
The signal at the input of an
amplifier has a S/N of 42 dB.
If the amplifier has a noise
figure of 6dB, what is the S/N
at the output (in decibels)?