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Electronic Communications
 A communication system conveys information from its
 Message is the physical manifestation of information as
 Electronic communications system can be summarized as
PRINCIPLE OF
COMMUNICATIONS
Block Diagram of an Electronic
Communication System
Block Diagram of an Electronic
Communication System
 TRANSMISSION MEDIUM/CHANNEL – provides a
means of transporting signals from a transmitter to
a receiver. It may be a pair of wires, coaxial
cables, fiber optics or even air. Every channel
introduces some amount of transmission loss or
attenuation, so the signal power progressively
decreases with increasing distance.
source to a destination some distance away. Thus, any
communication system’s basic function is information
transfer.
produced by the source. Whatever form the message
takes, the goal of a communication system is to
reproduce an acceptable replica of the source message.
the TRANSMISSION, RECEPTION and PROCESSING of
information between two or more locations using
electronic circuits.
Block Diagram of an Electronic
Communication System
A simplified electronic communications system includes
a transmitter, a transmission medium and a
receiver.
 TRANSMITTER – a collection of one or more
electronic devices or circuits that converts the
original source information to a signal that is more
suitable for transmission over a given transmission
medium. Signal processing for transmission almost
always involves modulation and may also include
coding.
Block Diagram of an Electronic
Communication System
 RECEIVER – a collection of electronic devices and
circuits that accepts the transmitted signals from
the transmission medium and converts them back to
their original form.
 Receiver operations include amplification to
compensate for transmission loss, and demodulation
and decoding to reverse the signal-processing
performed at the transmitter. Filtering is another
important function at the receiver.
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Undesirable Effects of Signal
Transmission
Attenuation – reduces of signal strength at the
receiver;
Distortion, interference and noise – appear as
alteration of the signal shape.
 DISTORTION – is waveform perturbation caused by
an imperfect response of the system to the desired
signal itself. It disappears when the signal is turned
off.
 This effect can be corrected, or at least reduced,
with the help of special filters called equalizers.
Undesirable Effects of Signal
Transmission
 NOISE – refers to random and unpredictable
electrical signals produced by natural processes
both internal and external to the system. When
noise is superimposed in the information-bearing
signal, the message may be partially corrupted or
totally obliterated. Filtering can be used to reduce
noise contamination, but there inevitably remains
some amount of noise that cannot be eliminated.
Transmission Modes
 1. SIMPLEX (SX)
Transmissions can occur only in one direction. It is also
known as one-way-only, receive-only, or transmit-only
systems. A communication location may be a
transmitter or a receiver, but not both. An example
of a system using simplex transmission mode is in
commercial radio or television broadcasting.
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Undesirable Effects of Signal
Transmission
 INTERFERENCE – is contamination by extraneous
signals from human sources- other transmitters,
power lines and machinery, switching circuits, and
soon. It occurs most often in radio system whose
receiving antennas usually intercept several signals
at the same time.
Transmission Modes
Transmission mode refers to the design of the
electronic communications system to handle
information transmission. Four transmission modes
are possible:
1. SIMPLEX (SX)
2. HALF DUPLEX (HDX)
3. FULL DUPLEX (FDX)
4. FULL/FULL DUPLEX (F/FDX)
Transmission Modes
2. HALF DUPLEX (HDX)
Transmissions occur in both directions, but not at the
same time. It is also known as two-way-alternate,
either-way, or over-and-out systems. A communication
location may be a transmitter and a receiver, but
not both at the same time. Examples of halfduplex
transmission include the citizens band and police
radio band two-way radio system with PTT (push-
to-talk) buttons to key their transmitters.
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Transmission Modes
3. FULL DUPLEX (FDX)
Transmissions can occur in both directions at the same
time. It is also known as twoway simultaneous, duplex
or both-way systems. A communication location can
transmit and receive simultaneously; however, the
station it is transmitting to must also be the station it
is receiving from. A standard telephone system is an
example of full-duplex transmission.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 The purpose of an electronic communications system
is to send information between two or more
locations commonly called stations.
 Electromagnetic energy can propagate as a
voltage or current as emitted radio waves through
free space. Electromagnetic energy is distributed
throughout an almost infinite range of frequencies.
Transmission Frequencies
 The total usable radio-frequency (RF) spectrum is
divided into narrower frequency bands, which are
given descriptive names and band numbers. The
International Telecommunications Union – Radio
(ITU-R), formerly known as CCIR – International
Radio Consultative Committee, assigns the band
designations and are listed below.
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Transmission Modes
4. FULL/FULL DUPLEX (F/FDX)
Transmission and reception are done simultaneously,
but not necessarily between the same two
communication locations. The U.S. Postal Service is
an example of full/full duplex operation.
Electromagnetic Spectrum
 FREQUENCY – the number of times a periodic
motion, such as a sine wave of voltage or current,
occurs in a given period of time. Each complete
alteration is called a cycle. The basic unit of
frequency is Hertz (Hz) or cycles-per second (cps).
Transmission Frequencies
(ELF) – Extremely Low Frequencies
 30 Hz – 300 Hz [107 – 106 m]
 powerline frequencies (50 Hz and 60 Hz)
 lower end of hearing range
(ULF) – Ultra Low Frequencies
 300 Hz – 3000 Hz [106 – 105 m]
 also called Voice Frequencies (VF)
 normal range of human speech
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Transmission Frequencies Transmission Frequencies

(VLF) – Very Low Frequencies (MF) – Medium Frequencies
5 4  300 kHz – 3000 kHz [103 – 102 m]
 3 kHz – 30 kHz [10 – 10 m]
 AM Radio Broadcasting (535 kHz – 1605 kHz)
 higher end of hearing range  various marine and aeronautical communication applications
 used in some government and military communications (HF) – High Frequencies
 used by navy to communicate with submarines
 3 MHz – 30 MHz [102 – 101 m]
 also called “short waves”
(LF) – Low Frequencies  all kinds of two-way radio communications
 30 kHz – 300 kHz [104 – 103 m]  “Voice of America” and “Radio Free Europe”
 aeronautical and marine navigation  government and military services use this band for two-way
communications
 also used as subcarriers (for modulation)  •Amateur Radio and CB (Citizens’ Band) communications

Transmission Frequencies Transmission Frequencies

(VHF) – Very High Frequencies (SHF) – Super High Frequencies
 30 MHz – 300 MHz [10 – 1 m]
 3 GHz – 30 GHz [10-1 – 10-2 m]
 extremely popular frequency range
 used for mobile radio, marine and aeronautical communications, FM  microwave frequencies used for satellite
Radio Broadcasting (88 MHz – 108 MHz) and Television channels 2 communications and radar
through 13.
(UHF) – Ultra High Frequencies (EHF) – Extremely High Frequencies
 300 MHz – 3000 MHz [1 – 10-1 m]  30 GHz – 300 GHz [10-2 – 10-3 m]
 another extremely used portion (band)
 UHF television channels 14 through 83  equipment used to receive and generate these

 For land mobile communications services such as cellular phones frequencies are complex and expensive
 Military services  also called “millimeter/millimetric waves”
 Radar and navigation services

Transmission Frequencies Wavelength

INFRARED
 f > 300 GHz  When dealing with radio waves, it is common to use
 these frequencies are not referred to as radio waves and are the units of wavelength rather than frequency.
associated with heat
 these frequencies have wavelengths “too long to be seen”  Wavelength is the length that one cycle of an
 sandwiched between the highest RF and visible electromagnetic electromagnetic wave occupies in space (i.e. the
spectrum
 LONG INFRARED – 10,000 nm  1,000 nm
distance between similar points in a repetitive
 SHORT INFRARED – 1,000 nm 700 nm wave). It is inversely proportional to the frequency
VISIBLE SPECTRUM of the wave and directly proportional to the
 [0.4 μm to 0.8 μm]
velocity of propagation (which is assumed to be
 light frequencies (Red – 8000 A& ) (Violet – 4000 A& )
 Able to handle a tremendous amount of information, e.g. fiber optic speed of light, c).
applications
 NOTE: 1 Angstrom = 0.0001 μm = 10^-10 m

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Wavelength Bandwidth and Information Capacity

 Two most significant limitations on the performance

This relation can be shown as
of a communications system are: noise and
bandwidth.
 Bandwidth is the difference between the highest
and lowest frequencies contained in the information.
Bandwidth of a communications channel is the
where: λ = wavelength difference between the highest and the lowest
f = frequency
k = velocity factor/constant (0 ≤ k ≤ 1) frequencies that the channel will allow to pass
c = speed of light(3 x 108 m/s or 9.84 x 108 ft/s or 186,000 mi/s)
through it (i.e. its passband).

Bandwidth and Information Capacity Bandwidth and Information Capacity

 Information theory is a highly theoretical study of the  HARTLEY’S LAW (1920, Ralph Hartley of Bell
efficient use of bandwidth to propagate information Telephone Laboratories) simply states that the wider
through electronic communications systems. It can be
used to determine the information capacity of a the bandwidth and the longer the transmission, the
communications system. more information that can be conveyed through the
 Information capacity is a measure of how much system. Hartley’s law is stated as
information can be transferred through a I ∝ B× t
communications system in a given period of time. The
amount of information that can be propagated through where: I = information capacity;
a transmission system is a function of system B = system bandwidth (Hertz);
bandwidth and transmission time. t = transmission time (seconds)

A Chronology of Electrical A Chronology of Electrical

Communication Communication
Year Event Year Event
1837 Samuel Morse developed the telegraph by using electromagnetic induction 1936 J. R. Carson, H. Nyquist, J.B. Johnson and R. Hartley published the
to transfer information in the form of dots, dashes and spaces between a papers regarding Transmission Theory based on the theory of signal
simple transmission and noise.
transmitter and receiver using a transmission line consisting of a length of
metallic wire.
1923-1938 Experiments on the different components of the television were conducted
1876 Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson were the first to successfully from the mechanical image-formation system demonstrated by Baird and
transfer human conversation over a crude metallic-wire communications Jenkins, the to the theoretical analysis of bandwidth requirements, up to
system they called the telephone the use of vacuum cathode-ray tubes by DuMont and others.
1894 Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted the first wireless radio signals
through the Earth’s atmosphere 1927 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was established.
1908 Lee DeForest invents the Audion (triode) based on Fleming’s diode. The
Audion provided the first practical means of amplifying electrical signals. 1933 Major Edwin Howard Armstrong invented frequency modulation (FM).

1918 Major Edwin Howard Armstrong perfects the superheterodyne receiver. 1934 Harold Stephen Black develops the negative-feedback amplifier.
1920 Radio stations began broadcasting amplitude-modulated (AM) signals. The
first commercial broadcasting station was KDKA, Pittsburgh.

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A Chronology of Electrical
Modulation
Communication
Year Event
 Modulation and coding are operations performed
1948 Claude Elwood Shannon publishes the founding papers of
information theory.
at the transmitter to achieve efficient and reliable
information transmission.
1948-1951 John Bardeen, Walter Houser Brattain and William Shockley invented
the transistor devices.  Modulation involves two waveforms: a modulating
1962 Satellite communication begins with Telstar I.
signal and a carrier wave.
1969 ARPANET created (precursor to Internet)  The modulating signal represents the message. It is
also known as the baseband signal.

Modulation Modulation
 A modulator (performs modulation) systematically Depicted below is an illustration of amplitude modulation.
alters the a characteristic of carrier wave (either its
amplitude, frequency or phase) in correspondence
with the variations of the modulating signal. The
resulting modulated wave thereby “carries” the
message information. It is generally required that
modulation be a “reversible” operation, so the
message can be retrieved by an inverse process of
demodulation.
The two basic types of electronic communications system
are analog and digital.

Modulation Modulation
 Analog communications system - is a system in  Under CW modulation, there are three possible
which energy is transmitted and received in analog methods:
form (a continuously varying signal such as a sine  Amplitude Modulation (AM)
wave).  Frequency Modulation (FM)
 For Analog:  Phase Modulation (PM)

 Information and Carrier are analog signals

 Continuous-wave (CW) modulation is used

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Modulation
 Frequency translation is the process of converting a
frequency or band of frequencies to another location in
the total frequency spectrum.
 Digital communications covers a broad range of
communications techniques including digital transmission
and digital radio.
 Digital transmission transfers digital pulses (discrete
levels) between two or more points in a communications
system using either a metallic wire or an optical fiber.
There is no analog carrier and the information to be
sent through the physical transmission medium should be
in digital form. If the information is originally in analog
form, then analog-to-digital conversion maybe
performed.
Modulation
Modulation techniques with digital radio (Information
signal is digital):
 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)
 Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)
 Phase Shift Keying (PSK)
 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)
Mixing
 Mixing is the process of combining two or more
signals and is an essential process in electronic
communications. There are two ways of mixing
signals: linearly and nonlinearly.
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Modulation
 Digital radio is the transmittal of digitally
modulated analog carriers between two or more
points in a communications system. With digital
radio, the modulating signal and the demodulated
signals are digital pulses and the carrier wave is an
analog signal.
Modulation Benefits and Applications
 Modulation for efficient transmission
 Modulation to overcome hardware limitations
 Modulation to reduce noise and interference
 Modulation for frequency assignment
 Modulation for multiplexing
Mixing
 Linear Mixing- Also known as linear summing, it
occurs when two or more signals combine in a linear
device such as a passive network or a small signal
amplifier.
 Signals combine in such a way that NO NEW
FREQUENCIES ARE PRODUCED.
 Combined waveform is simply the linear addition of the
individual signals.
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Linear Mixing Linear Mixing

 Single-input frequency: The output is simply the
original input signal amplified by the gain of the
amplifier.

Linear Mixing Linear Mixing

 Multiple-input frequencies: The output is a complex
waveform containing both input frequencies and is
equal to the algebraic sum of the two
input signals. If additional input frequencies
are applied, they are linearly summed with the
other input signals.

Linear Mixing Linear Mixing

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Nonlinear Mixing Nonlinear Mixing

 Nonlinear mixing occurs when two or more signals  Single-input frequency
are combined in a nonlinear device such as a diode The output from a nonlinear device is in the
or large-signal amplifier. With nonlinear mixing, infinite power series
ADDITIONAL FREQUENCY COMPONENTS ARE
PRODUCED.

Nonlinear Mixing Nonlinear Mixing

 The output waveform is a summation of the input
frequency (fa) and its higher harmonics (multiples of
the fundamental frequencies). If the harmonics are
undesired, it is called harmonic distortion. If the
harmonics are desired, it is called frequency
multiplication.

Nonlinear Mixing Nonlinear Mixing

 Multiple-input frequencies
This is usually the condition when a large-signal
(nonlinear) amplifier accepts two or more input
signals with different frequencies.
When two or more frequencies are amplified in
nonlinear device:
 Harmonics are produced; and
 Intermodulation distortions (unwanted cross-product
frequencies) are generated.

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Nonlinear Mixing DECIBEL SYSTEM

 Decibel (dB) is a logarithmic unit used to describe a
ratio. The ratio may be gain, power, voltage,
current, sound pressure, intensity or several other
things.
 bel – basic unit in this measurement system
 Unit that expresses the logarithmic ratio between the
input and the output of any given component, circuit, or
system.
𝑃𝑥
 𝑏𝑒𝑙 = log 𝑃𝑦
; 𝑃𝑥 & 𝑃𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠

DECIBEL SYSTEM dB Reference Values

 1 𝑏𝑒𝑙 = 10 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑠  dBm- reference power is 1mW
𝑃𝑥 𝑃𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑙 = 10 log 𝑑𝐵𝑚 = 10 log
𝑃𝑦 1𝑚𝑊
𝑉2
𝑥  dBW – reference power is 1 watt
 𝑑𝐵 = 10𝑙𝑜𝑔
𝑅𝑥
2
𝑃𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑠
𝑉𝑦 𝑑𝐵𝑊 = 10 log
𝑅𝑦 1𝑊
𝑉𝑥  dBrn- reference noise power is 1pW
 𝑑𝐵 = 20𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑁𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑉𝑦
𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛 = 10 log
1𝑝𝑊

Rules in Addition/Subtraction using dB Rules in Addition/Subtraction using dB

 𝑑𝐵1 + 𝑑𝐵2 = 𝑑𝐵3  dBa (dB above adjusted noise)

 𝑑𝐵 + 𝑑𝐵𝑚1 = 𝑑𝐵𝑚2  dBrnC (dB above reference noise, C-message
 𝑑𝐵𝑊1 + 𝑑𝐵 = 𝑑𝐵𝑊2 weighted)
 Do not add/subtract two dB measurements with  pWp (picowatts, psophometrically weighted)
reference values  TLP (Transmission/Test Level Point)
Absolute Value from a dB Values  dBaO (dBa at 0 dBm level point)
Given: 𝑃𝑑𝐵 = 10 log 𝐴  dBrnCO (dBrnC at 0 dBm level point)
𝑃𝑑𝐵
𝐴= 10 10

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Rules in Addition/Subtraction using dB
 dBa=dBm+85
 dBrnC=dBm+90
 0 dBrnC=10-12 W=-90dBm
 dBaO=dBa-TLP(dB)
 dBrnCO=dBrnC-TLP(dB)
EXAMPLES
Perform the following operations:
7. If the power gain of an amplifier is 100 dB, what
absolute value does this correspond to?
8. Given the communications system below, determine
the effective radiated power (ERP).
NOISE ANALYSIS
 Electrical noise is defined as any undesirable
electrical energy that falls within the passband of
the signal.
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EXAMPLES
1. What is the dB value for a signal at 10 watts
compared to another signal at 0.5 watt?
2. A signal enters the circuit with a value of 0.1 V and is
amplified to 5 V. How much dB gain is this? Express the
voltage gain in dB.
3. The signal is attenuated from 5 V to 0.1 V. What is the
decibel value of the attenuation?
4. Convert the following absolute power levels to dBm:
0.002 W, 0.0001 W, 10 mW, and 0.001 W.
5. How many watts of power are there in 0 dBW?
6. Express the noise power of 10-24 W into dBrn.
EXAMPLES
9. You are measuring noise in a voice channel at a -
4dB test point level, the meter reads -73dBm, convert
the reading into dBrnCO.
𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶 = 𝑑𝐵𝑚 + 90
= 17𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶
𝑇𝐿𝑃 𝑑𝐵 = 𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶 − 𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶𝑂
𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶𝑂 = 𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶 − 𝑇𝐿𝑃(𝑑𝐵)
= 21 𝑑𝐵𝑟𝑛𝐶𝑂
Two Categories of Noise:
1. Correlated noise – it exists only
when a signal is present.
2. Uncorrelated noise – it is present all
the time whether there is a signal or not.
Uncorrelated noise is present regardless
of whether there is a signal present or
not. It can be further subdivided into
two categories: external and internal.
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UNCORRELATED NOISE
 Uncorrelated noise is present regardless of whether
there is a signal present or not. It can be further
subdivided into two categories: external and
internal.
EXTERNAL NOISE
 Extraterrestrial Noise (or deep-space noise) –
consists of electrical signals that originate outside
the earth’s atmosphere. Sources of this type of
noise include the Milky Way, other galaxies and the
sun. There are two types of extraterrestrial noise:
solar and cosmic.
EXTERNAL NOISE
 Man-Made Noise (or industrial noise) – is simply
the noise that is produced by mankind. Predominant
sources of man-made noise include the inventions
created by mankind like electric motors, fluorescent
lights, machines, etc.
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UNCORRELATED NOISE
 EXTERNAL NOISE – is noise that is generated outside
the device or circuit. Primary sources of external noise
include: atmospheric, extraterrestrial, and man-
made.
Atmospheric Noise (or static noise) – is naturally occurring
disturbances that originate within Earth’s atmosphere. It is the
familiar sputtering, crackling, and so on, often heard from the
speaker when there is no signal present. Lightning discharges
during thunderstorms are typical sources of atmospheric noise. Its
intensity is inversely proportional with its frequency and becomes
less severe at frequencies above 30 MHz.
EXTERNAL NOISE
 Solar noise - is generated directly from the sun’s
heat. There are two parts to solar noise: a quiet
condition when relatively constant radiation
intensity exists and high intensity, sporadic
disturbances caused by sun spot activity and solar
flare-ups.
 Cosmic noise (or black-body noise) – its intensity is
relatively small since sources are much farther away
than the sun.
INTERNAL NOISE
 Is electrical interference generated within a device
or circuit.
Shot noise (or transistor noise) – is caused by the
random arrival of current carriers (holes and
electrons) at the output element of an electronic
device, such as a diode, FET or BJT. It was first
observed in the anode current of a vacuum tube
amplifier and was described mathematically by
Walter Hans Schottky in 1918. This noise is randomly
varying and is superimposed onto any signal present.
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INTERNAL NOISE
 When amplified, shot noise sounds similar to metal
pellets falling on a tin room. For a diode,
 𝑖𝑛 = 2𝑒𝑖𝑝 𝐵𝑊
 Where: in=rms shot-noise current
e=charge of an electron=1.6x10-19 C
ip=direct diode current
BW=bandwidth (Hz)
INTERNAL NOISE
Thermal noise (or Brownian noise or Johnson
noise or white noise) – is associated with the rapid
and random movement of electrons within a
conductor due to thermal agitation. This random
movement was first noted by Robert Brown.
𝑁 = 𝐾𝑇𝐵
Where: N=noise power (watts)
B=bandwidth (hertz)
K=Boltzmann’s constant (1.38x10-23 J/K)
T=absolute temperature (Kelvin)
CORRELATED NOISE
 is the noise that is mutually related to the signal and
cannot be present in a circuit unless there is an input
signal. It is produced by nonlinear amplification
and includes harmonic and intermodulation
distortion. All amplifiers are nonlinear to some
extent.
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INTERNAL NOISE
 Transit-time noise – it is noticeable when the time
it takes for a carrier to propagate through a
device is an appreciable part of the time of one
cycle of the signal. Transmit-time noise in transistors
is determined by carrier mobility, bias voltage and
transistor construction. Carriers traveling from
emitter to collector suffer from emitter-time delays,
base transit-time delays, and collector
recombination time and propagation-time delays.
INTERNAL NOISE
 𝑉𝑁 = 4𝐾𝑇𝐵𝑅
 𝑉𝑁 − 𝑁𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠
 T – Absolute Temperature (K)
 B – Bandwidth (Hz)
 R – Resistance (ohms)
CORRELATED NOISE
 HARMONIC DISTORTION – is when unwanted
harmonics of a signal are produced through nonlinear
amplification (mixing). The distortion to a specific
harmonic is the ratio of the rms amplitude of that
harmonic to the rms amplitude of the fundamental
harmonic.
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CORRELATED NOISE
 The total harmonic distortion (THD) is the ratio of the
combined rms amplitude of the higher harmonics to the rms
amplitude of the fundamental harmonic. Mathematically,
THD is
𝑉ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑒𝑟
%𝑇𝐻𝐷 = 𝑥100
𝑉𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙
where THD = percent total harmonic distortion
vhigher = quadratic sum of the rms voltages of the
harmonics above the fundamental frequency,
𝑣22 + 𝑣32 + ⋯ + 𝑣𝑛2
vfundamental = rms voltage of the fundamental harmonic

CORRELATED NOISE CORRELATED NOISE

 IMPULSE NOISE – is characterized by high-
 INTERMODULATION DISTORTION – is the
amplitude peaks of short duration in the total noise
generation of unwanted sum and difference
spectrum. It appears as sudden bursts of
frequencies when two or more signals are amplified
irregularity, pulse-shaped insertion that generally
in a nonlinear device, such as a large-signal
lasts between a few microseconds and a fraction of
amplifier. The sum and difference a millisecond.
frequencies, produced by mixing two or more
signals in a nonlinear device, are called cross
products.

CORRELATED NOISE Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)

 INTERFERENCE – is a form of external noise 𝑆 𝑃𝑆

=
and it means “to disturb or detract from.” Electrical 𝑁 𝑃𝑁
interference is when information signals from one  Where 𝑃𝑆 = 𝑆𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
source produce frequencies that fall outside their  𝑃𝑁 = 𝑁𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
allocated bandwidth and interfere with information 𝑆 𝑃𝑆
signals from another source. 𝑑𝐵 = 10 log
𝑁 𝑃𝑁
𝑆 𝑉𝑆
𝑑𝐵 = 20 log
𝑁 𝑉𝑁
 Where 𝑉𝑆 = 𝑆𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠)
 𝑉𝑁 = 𝑁𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠)

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NOISE FACTOR & NOISE FIGURE NOISE FACTOR & NOISE FIGURE
 Noise factor (F) and noise figure (NF) are figures of  Noise figure (NF) is simply the noise factor stated in
merit used to indicate how much the signal-to-noise
ratio deteriorates as a signal passes through a circuit or dB and is a parameter commonly used to indicate
series of circuits. the quality of a receiver.
 Noise factor (F) is simply a ratio of input signal-to noise 𝑁𝐹 = 10 log(𝐹)
power ratio (Si/Ni) to output signal-to-noise power
ratio (So/No). In other words, it is a ratio of ratios.  • The noise figure indicates how much the SNR
Mathematically, noise factor is deteriorates as a waveform propagates from the
𝑆 input to the output of a circuit.
𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 − 𝑡𝑜 − 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑁 𝑖
𝐹= =
𝑆  • For a perfect, noiseless circuit the noise factor (F) is
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 − 𝑡𝑜 − 𝑛𝑜𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜
𝑁 𝑂 1, the noise figure (NF) is 0 dB.

NOISE IN AMPLIFIERS AMPLIFIERS AND NOISE FIGURES

AMPLIFIERS AND NOISE FIGURES Equivalent Noise Temperature

*𝑁𝐹𝑇 = 10 log(𝐹𝑇 )
 When precise noise calculations (0.1 dB or less) are
 Friiss’ formula is used to calculate the total noise factor necessary, it is generally more convenient to express
of several cascaded amplifiers and is shown below: noise figure in terms of noise temperature or
equivalent noise temperature rather than as an
absolute power.
 where FT = total/system noise factor for n cascaded 𝑁𝑑 = 𝐾𝑇𝑒 𝐵
amplifiers
 F1, F2, F3, …, Fn = individual amplifier noise factors
 A1, A2, A3,.. An-1 = individual amplifier power gains

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Equivalent Noise Temperature Equivalent Noise Temperature

 where : Nd = noise power added from a single component

 N0 = noise power at the output
 Ni = total input noise power of an amplifier 𝑇 + 𝑇𝑒 𝑇𝑒
𝐹𝑇 = =1+
 T = ambient temperature 𝑇 𝑇

 Te = equivalent noise temperature of an amplifier

 A = power gain of an amplifier

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