Why sLudy nolse?

WYPR-FM 88.1 MHz

Transmitted power 15,500 W
Received power
~0.00000000000001 W
~19 orders of
magnitude
Noise sources and effects
Why sLudy nolse?
W nolse ls one of Lhe prlnclple llmlLlng facLors ln
Lhe performance of communlcaLlon sysLems
W L|ectr|ca| no|se ls any undeslred volLages or
currenLs LhaL end up appearlng aL Lhe recelver
ouLpuL An example ls stat|c LhaL ls commonly
encounLered on broadcasL
AM radlo
W n a pracLlcal sysLem nolse ls always presenL
@ypes of nolse
W nolse ls dlvlded lnLo Lwo broad caLegorles
Lxterna| no|se ls nolse lnLroduced ln Lhe
Lransmlsslon channel
nterna| no|se ls nolse lnLroduced lnslde Lhe
recelver lLself
InIormation or
intelligence
(audio, video,
data, etc.)
Recovered
inIormation
or
Intelligence
Free space (radio), wire,
Iiber-optic cable, etc.
Transmitter
(TX)
Communications
channel or medium
Receiver
(RX)
External
noise
Internal
noise
xLernal nolse
W ndustr|a| no|se ls caused by human made
elecLrlcal sources (moLors
generaLors lgnlLlon)
W tmospher|c no|se ls due Lo naLurally
occurrlng dlsLurbances ln earLh's
aLmosphere such as llghLenlng
xLernal nolse
W Lxtraterrestr|a| no|se (solar nolse)ls elecLrlcal
nolse due Lo solar and cosmlc acLlvlLy
uomlnaLes aL hlgher frequencles and can be a
serlous problem ln saLelllLe communlcaLlons
nLernal nolse
W nterna| no|se ls nolse lnLroduced lnslde Lhe
recelver
W @hree Lypes of lnLernal nolse we wlll conslder
@hermal nolse
SemlconducLor nolse
nLermodulaLlon dlsLorLlon
@hermal nolse
W @hermal nolse ls caused by random moLlon of
free elecLrons and vlbraLlng lons ln a
conducLor due Lo heaL
W nolse ower ln waLLs ls dlrecLly proporLlonal
Lo 8andwldLh ln Pz and Lhe LemperaLure ln
degrees kelvln
Thermal noise voltage as a function of time
Random electron motion due to heat
@hermal nolse
W @hermal nolse ls also Lermed h|te nolse or
Causslan nolse
usL as whlLe llghL conLalns all frequencles whlLe
nolse conLalns an equal welghLlng of all
frequencles
requency (Hz)
requency spectrum of thermal noise
Thermal noise voltage as a function of time
N KTB =
N noise power (watts)
B bandwidth (hertz)
K Boltzmann's proportionality constant
(1.38 10
-23
Joules per kelvin)
T absolute temperature (kelvin)
)
log log log
. .
/Bm
KTB KT
N B = = +
)
dBm log
/Bm
N B = +
@hermal nolse

N
N
N
J
J
N KTB J RKTB
R R





= = = =

J
P JI
R
= =
J IR =
The noise voltage produced by a resistor
R over a bandwidth B can be calculated
@hermal nolse volLage
@hermal nolse volLage
W @hermal nolse deslgn conslderaLlons Slnce
Lhermal nolse ls proporLlonal Lo reslsLance
LemperaLure and bandwldLh recelver deslgns
LhaL reduce Lhese values wlll have superlor
performance

where rms noise voltage

Boltzman's constant (. J/K)
temperature, K ( C )
bandwidth, Hz
resistance,
n
n
v kTBR
v
k
T
B
R

=
=
= -
= +
=
= O
Example Problem 1
@he bandwldLh of a recelver wlLh a 73O lnpuL reslsLance ls 6
MPz f Lhe LemperaLure ls 29S whaL ls Lhe lnpuL Lhermal nolse
volLage?
SemlconducLor nolse
W @he oLher ma[or caLegory of lnLernal nolse
orlglnaLes from semlconducLor devlces such as
dlodes and LranslsLors
W SemlconducLor nolse ls comprlsed of
ShoL nolse
@ranslLLlme nolse
lllcker nolse
ShoL nolse
W hot no|se Lhe largesL conLrlbuLor Lo LranslsLor
nolse ls due Lo Lhe random paLhs of Lhe
currenL carrlers flowlng ln semlconducLors
circuit symbol Ior a diode
diode
@ranslLLlme nolse
W @rans|tt|me no|se occurs aL hlgh frequencles
when LranslL Llme" of charge carrlers crosslng
Lhe semlconducLor's [uncLlon approaches Lhe
slgnal's perlod
W @hls Lype nolse lncreases rapldly when
operaLlng above Lhe devlce's hlghfrequency
cuLoff
Time required to cross
5n-junction close to period (T)
oI the signal.
lllcker nolse
W lllcker nolse resulLs from mlnuLe varlaLlons ln
reslsLance ln semlconducLor maLerlal
W lllcker nolse ls lnversely proporLlonal Lo
frequency and someLlmes referred Lo as /1
nolse or plnk nolse
licker noise voltage as a function of time
lllcker nolse
W lllcker nolse ls also found ln reslsLors and
conducLors
%5e of resistor Noise voItage range (3')
Carbon-composition 0.1-3.0
Carbon-film 0.05-0.3
Metal-film 0.02-0.2
Wire-wound 0.01-0.2
licker noise for various types of resistors
metal-Iilm
carbon-
composition wire-wound
SemlconducLor nolse
W @oLal nolse volLage of semlconducLor devlces
varles wlLh frequency wlLh dlfferenL Lypes of
nolse predomlnaLlng ln dlfferenL reglons
Measurlng nolse
W @o quanLlfy Lhe effecL of nolse on a slgnal we
use Lhe s|gna|tono|se (S/n) raLlo or Sn8
A sLrong slgnal and weak nolse resulLs ln a hlgh
S/n raLlo
A weak slgnal and sLrong nolse resulLs ln a low S/n
raLlo
signal without noise dB S/N ratio dB S/N ratio
SlgnalLonolse raLlo
W Slgnal Lo nolse raLlo can be expressed ln Lerms
of volLage or power
signal voltage (rms)
noise voltage (rms)
or where
signal power (W)
noise power (W)
s
n
s s
s n n
n
J
J
S J S P
P N J N P
P
=
|

= =
,
=

=
|

signal
(J
s
or P
s
)
noise
(J
n
or P
n
)
signal plus noise
SlgnalLonolse (declbels)
W Slgnal Lo nolse raLlo ls mosL commonly
reporLed ln declbels
/ ratio (dB) using voltage: dB log
/ ratio (dB) using power: dB log
s
n
s
n
J
S N
J
P
S N
P
=
=
nolse raLlo (n8)
W We ofLen need Lo quanLlfy how much nolse a
devlce adds Lo a slgnal as lL passes Lhrough
Lhe devlce
W Cne measure ls Lhe no|se rat|o (n8) whlch ls
slmply Lhe raLlo of lnpuL S/n Lo ouLpuL S/n
ampliIier
output signal input signal
/ input
NR
/ output
S N
S N
=
nolse flgure (nl)
W When Lhe nolse raLlo (n8) ls expressed ln
declbels lL's called Lhe nolse flgure (nl)
W Slnce Lhe ouLpuL S/n raLlo wlll be less Lhan Lhe
lnpuL Lhe n8 1 and nl 0
lor an ldeal devlce n8 10 and nl 0 d8
n pracLlce nl less Lhan 2 d8 ls excellenL
ampliIier
output signal input signal
NF log NR |dB| =
nolse 8aLlo (n8) and nolse llgure (nl)
nl 10 log (n8)
nl (d8) (Sn8)
lnpuL
(d8) (Sn8)
ouLpuL
(d8)
)
)
out5ut
in5ut
SNR
SNR
NR =
Example Problem 2
transistor amplifier has a measured S/N power ratio of
10,000 at its input and 5,624 at its output.
(a) Calculate the NR.
(b) Calculate the N.
ampliIier
output signal input signal
nolse ln cascaded sLages
W @he LoLal nolse performance of a cascade of
ampllflers depends upon Lhe nolse raLlo and
power galn of each sLage
W @he LoLal nolse performance of mulLlple sLages
ls glven by lrlls' formula
where
i
Lhe power galn and
NR
i
nolse raLlo of Lhe i Lh sLage
signal input output

, NR

, NR

, NR

NR NR NR
NR NR
n
n

= + + + +

Example Problem 3
@he galn of Lhe Lhree sLages of an ampllfler are 843 d8 1079
d8 and 20 d8 @he nolse flgures assoclaLed wlLh Lhese sLages
are 204 d8 30 d8 and 929 d8 WhaL ls Lhe overall n8 and nl
for Lhls cascade of ampllflers?
signal input output

. dB
NF

. dB

. dB
NF

. dB

. dB
NF

. dB
NF
mpllcaLlons of lrlls' formula
W @he LoLal nolse performance of a recelver ls
lnvarlably deLermlned by Lhe very flrsL sLage
W 8eyond Lhe flrsL and second sLage nolse ls no
longer a problem
signal input output

, NR

, NR

, NR

NR NR NR
NR NR
n
n

= + + + +

Noise Temperature

N
N KTB T
KB
= =
T environmental temperature (290 Kelvin)
N noise power (watts)
K Boltzmann's constant (1.38 10
-23
J/K)
B total noise factor (hertz)
)

e
T T F =
T
e
equivalent noise temperature
T environmental temperature (290 Kelvin)
F noise factor (dimensionless)

e
T
F
T
= +
F K
ParLleyShannon @heorem
Slgnlflcance of Sn8
W ParLleyShannon @heorem (also called
Shannon's LlmlL) sLaLes LhaL Lhe maxlmum
daLa raLe for a communlcaLlons channel ls
deLermlned by a channel's bandwldLh and
Sn8
W A Sn8 of zero d8 means LhaL nolse power
equals Lhe slgnal power
nolse ffecLs on ommunlcaLlons
W uaLa
May be saLlsfacLory ln Lhe presence of whlLe
nolse buL lmpulse nolse wlll desLroy a daLa slgnal
88 (8lL rror 8aLe) ls used as a performance
measure ln dlglLal sysLems
W volce
WhlLe nolse (conLlnuous dlsLurbance) can be
boLhersome Lo humans buL lmpulse nolse can be
accepLable for speech communlcaLlons
Sn8 (SlgnalLonolse 8aLlo) ls used as a
performance measure ln analog sysLems