Noise

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ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM
FUNDAMENTALS THROUGH ADVANCED
BY WAYNE TOMASI

E.B.P.

NOISE
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Electrical Noise (or simply noise) is defined as any

undesirable electrical energy that falls within the pass-band of the
signal. For example, in audio recording, any unwanted electrical
signals that fall within the audio frequency band of 0Hz to 15KHz
will interfere with the music and therefore considered noise.
Effect of noise on an electrical signal

Signal without noise

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signal with noise

GENERAL CATEGORIES OF NOISE

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Correlated Noise noise that exists only when

signal is present. It is produced by non-linear

amplification and is a form of internal noise.
Uncorrelated noise noise that is present all the
time whether there is a signal or not

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UNCORRELATED NOISE
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External Noise is noise that is generated outside

the device or circuit.

Internal Noise is electrical interference generated
within device or circuit

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External Noise
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Atmospheric Noise is naturally occurring

electrical disturbances that originate within Earths
atmosphere.
Extraterrestrial Noise consists of electrical
signals that originate from outside Earths
atmosphere and is, therefore , sometimes called
deep-space noise
Man-made Noise is simply noise that is produced
by mankind

E.B.P.

Internal Noise
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Shot Noise is caused by the random arrival of

carriers (holes and electrons)at the output element
of an electronic device ,such as a diode field-effect
transistor, or bipolar transistor
Transit time noise occurs when the time taken by
charge carrier to cross a junction is comparable to
the period of the signal

E.B.P.

Internal Noise
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Thermal Noise is associated with the rapid and

random movement of electrons within a conductor
due to thermal agitation and is temperature
dependent. Also called Brownian noise , Johnson
noise or white noise because the random movement
is at all frequencies.
Partition noise occurs whenever current has to
divide between two or more electrodes and results
from the random fluctuation in the division

E.B.P.

Internal Noise
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Flicker noise is associated with crystal surface

defects in semiconductor and also found in vacuum

tubes. It is sometimes called pink noise because it is
concentrated at the lower end of the spectrum.

E.B.P.

CORRELATED NOISE
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Harmonic distortion (also called amplitude

distortion) occurs when unwanted harmonics of a

signal are produced through non-linear amplification
(mixing). Harmonics are integer multiples of the
original input signal. The original signal is the first
harmonic and is called the fundamental frequency.

E.B.P.

CORRELATED NOISE
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TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION

%THD

vhigher
v fundamental

Where:
%THD = percent total harmonic distortion
Vhigher = quadratic sum of the rms voltages of the harmonics above the
fundamental frequency;

vhigher

2
2

v32 ... vn2

Vfundamental = rms voltage of the fundamental frequency

E.B.P.

CORRELATED NOISE
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Intermodulation distortion is the generation of

the unwanted sum and difference frequencies called

cross products, when two or more signals are
amplified in non-linear device such as large signal
amplifier.
cross products mf1 nf 2

Where:
f1 & f2 are fundamental frequencies
m & n are positive integers

E.B.P.

CORRELATED NOISE
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Impulse Noise is characterized by high amplitude

peaks of short duration in the total noise spectrum

and is consisted of sudden burst of irregularly
shaped pulses.
Interference is a form of external noise and, as the
name implies, means to disturb or detract from.
Electrical interference is when information signals
from one source produce frequencies that fall outside
their allocated bandwidth and interfere with
information signals from other sources.
E.B.P.

Noise Power
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John B. Johnson proved that thermal noise power

is proportional to the product of the bandwidth
and temperature. Mathematically,

N KTB

KTB

0.001

N dBm 10 log

Where;
N = Noise power (Watts)
K = Boltzmanns proportionality constant (1.38 x 10-23 joules per Kelvin)
T = absolute temperature (Kelvin) (room temperature = 17 C or 290 K)
B = Bandwidth (Hz)
Note: to convert C to Kelvin, simply add 273, thus T = C + 273

E.B.P.

Noise Voltage
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Noise Source
VN/2

Load

Ri
VN

VN = noise voltage
R

VN/2

VN 4 RKTB
Note: For worst case condition and maximum transfer of noise power
R is made equal to Ri

Noise source equivalent circuit

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Noise Voltage
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Addition of noise due to several sources

VNTotal VN21 VN22 VN23 VNn2

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S/N Power Ratio

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Signal-to-noise power ratio is the ratio of

the signal power level to the noise power level.
S Ps

N Pn
Where:
PS = signal power (watts)
Pn = Noise power (watts)

E.B.P.

Ps
S
10 log 10
N ( dB)
Pn

Noise Factor and Noise Figure

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Noise figure (NF) and noise factor (F) are figures of

merit used to show much the S/N ratio deteriorates as

the signal passes through a circuit or series of circuits.
input signal to noise power ratio
F
output signal to noise power ratio

NFdB 10 log F
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Noise Factor and Noise Figure

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(a)

(b)

Si
Ni

Ideal
Amplifier
(Ap)

Si
Ni

Non-ideal
Amplifier
(Ap)
(Nd)
Ap = amplifier gain

Ap S i
Ap N i

Si
Ni

Ap S i
Ap N i N d

Si
N i N d Ap

Nd = internal noise

Noise figure:
(a) ideal, noiseless amplifier, (b) amplifier with internally generated noise
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Noise Factor and Noise Figure

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When two or more amplifiers are cascaded, the total

noise factor is the accumulation of the individual

noise factors. Friiss formula is used to calculate the
total noise factor.

F2 1 F3 1 F4 1
FT F1

A1
A1 A2 A1 A2 A3

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Noise Factor and Noise Figure

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Si
N i dB

Amplifier 1
NF1
A1

So
Si

NFT
N o dB N i

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Amplifier 2
NF2
A2

Amplifier n
NF3
A3

NFT ( dB ) 10 log FT

So
N o dB

Noise Figure Degradation in Cascaded Amplifiers

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S in 60 dBm
N in 90 dBm

Amplifier 1 S1
A1=10dB
N1
Nd1 = 1.5dB

Amplifier 2
A2 = 10dB
Nd2 =2.5dB

S out
N out

Sout = 40dBm
S1= 50dBm
Sin = 60dBm
S/N = 30dB

E.B.P.

4 dB

S/N = 26dB
68.5 dBm

S/N = 28.5dB

80 dBm

Nd1
N in 90 dBm

NFdB 30 dB 26 dB

N 1 78.5 dBm

Nd2

N out 66 dBm

Equivalent Noise Temperature

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Equivalent noise temperature (Te) is a hypothetical

value that cannot be directly measured. It is an

indication of the reduction in the signal to noise ratio
a signal undergoes as it propagates through a
receiver.

E.B.P.

Equivalent Noise Temperature

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N
T
KB

Te T F 1

N = Noise power in watts

K = Boltzmanns proportionality constant (1.38 x 10 -23 Joules per Kelvin)
B = Bandwidth (Hz)
Te = equivalent noise temperature (Kelvin)
T = absolute temperature (Kelvin) (room temperature = 17 C or 290 K)
F = noise factor (unitless)

E.B.P.