Experiment 3

AWGN Noise Generation

1.0Objective
i. To get familiarize with the basic concepts of AWGN noise.
ii. To generate and analyze AWGN noise in MATLAB.

2.0Learning Outcomes
i. Understanding the concept of AWGN noise in wireless communication channel.
ii. Differentiating between any two noises with different variance.

3.0Equipment Required
i. Personal computer
ii. MATLAB

4.0Background
Channel characteristics play an important role in studying, choosing and designing
modulation schemes. Modulation schemes are studied for different channels in order
to know their performance in these channels. Modulation schemes are chosen and
designed according to channel characteristics in order to optimize their performance.

Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel is a universal channel model for
analyzing modulation schemes. In this model, the channel does nothing but adds a
white Gaussian noise to the signal passing through it. This implies that the channel’s
amplitude frequency response is flat (thus with unlimited or infinite bandwidth) and
phase frequency response is linear for all frequencies so that modulated signals pass
through it without any phase distortion of frequency components. The received signal
is simplified to

𝑟(𝑡) = 𝑠(𝑡) + 𝑛(𝑡)

where 𝑛(𝑡) is the additive Gaussian noise.

The power spectral density (PSD) for all frequencies is flat and given as
𝑁𝑜
𝑁(𝑓) =
2
At any time instance, the amplitude of 𝑛(𝑡) obeys a Gaussian probability density
function given by

1 𝑛2
𝑝(𝑛) = exp (− )
√2𝜋𝜎 2 2𝜎 2
 where 𝜎 2 is the variance of the noise. It is interesting that 𝜎 2 = ∞ for the AWGN
process. However when 𝑟(𝑡) is correlated with an orthonormal function 𝜙(𝑡), the noise
in the output has a finite variance which is equal to 𝑁𝑜 ⁄2. Then the probability density
function of noise can be written as

1 𝑛2
𝑝(𝑛) = exp (− )
√𝜋𝑁𝑜 𝑁𝑜

The AWGN channel does not exist in reality since no channel can have an infinite
bandwidth. However, when the signal bandwidth is smaller than the channel
bandwidth, many practical channels are approximately an AWGN channel. For
example, the line-of-sight (LOS) radio channel, including fixed terrestrial microwave
links, fixed satellite links are approximately AWGN channels when the weather is
good. Wideband coaxial cables are also approximately AWGN channels since there
is no other interference except Gaussian noise.

All modulation schemes are studied for the AWGN channel first. The performance in
an AWGN channel gives upper bound on the performance.

In matlab, the function ‘randn’ generates random integers with zero mean and unit
variance. To change the variance of random vector created, just multiply it with square
root of the desired variance. The relation between variance and SNR is given below
where SNR is in dB.
𝑆𝑁𝑅
𝜎 2 = 10− 10

5.0Procedure
Generate a matlab source code to produce an AWGN for a given SNR. And verify by
comparing generated noise with built-in noise generation function ‘awgn’.

i. Generate noise with zero mean and unit variance. Verify that the generated noise
has zero mean and unit variance. Also plot the PDF of noise. Use ‘randn’, ‘mean’,
‘var’, ’hist’.
ii. Generate noise for two arbitrary SNR values and plot PDF along with noise using
subplot. Do you observe any difference? Use any values SNR= -20/-10/0/10/20.
iii. Generate noise for same value of SNR as in previous step using matlab built-in
function. Use ‘zeros’, ‘awgn’.
iv. Plot both noise with their respective PDFs. Identify the difference? Verify that both
have approximately same mean and variance.
v. Generate a stream of 5s and -5s, add the noises generated in task ii, plot and
observe the histograms.

6.0Conclusion (Each student has to write his/her own conclusion)