Solutions to Practice Problems

Practice Problem 23.1

The input power of an amplifier is 6 W. The power gain is AP = 80. What is the output power?

Pout = Pin x Ap = 6 W (80) = 480 W

Practice Problem 23.2

The input power is 15.5 kW. The power output is 10-15 W. Is this system associated with amplification or attenuation?
What is the gain (or attenuation) of this system?

Ap =Pout / Pin = 10-15 W / 15.5 x 103 W = 6.45 10-20

Since Ap is < 1.0, this is attenuation.

Practice Problem 23.3

Convert these two power gains to decibels (dB).

AP =1000 10 x log10 (1000) = 30 dB

AP =0.0001 10 x log10 (0.0001) = -40 dB

Practice Problem 23.4

Convert the following power gains from decibels to decimal gains.

AP,dB = 25 dB: AP =

AP,dB = -6 dB: AP =

Practice Problem 23.5

Express Pin = 2 W in decibels as both dBm and dBW.

Pin,dBm =

Pin,dBW =

Practice Problem 23.6

Express 25 dBm in terms of mW and W.

P(in mW) =

P(in W) =
Practice Problem 23.7
The diagram below represents the first three stages of a typical AM or FM receiver. Find the following quantities.

(a) AT and AT,dB

AT = AP1 x AP2 x AP3 = 100 (0.2) 10,000 = 200,000

AT,dB = 10 log10 (200,000) = 53 dB

(b) AP1,dB, AP2,dB, and AP3,dB.

AP1,dB = 10 log10 (100) = 20 dB, AP2,dB = 10 log10 (0.2) = −7 dB, AP3,dB = 10 log10 (10,000) = 40 dB

(c) P1, P2, and Pout.

P1 = Pin x AP1 = 1 pW (100) = 100 pW,
P2 = P1 x AP2 = 100 pW (0.2) = 20 pW
P3 = P2 x AP3 = 20 pW (10,000) = 200 nW

(d) Pin,dBm, P1,dBm, P2,dBm, and Pout,dBm.

Practice Problem 23.8

The signal power at the input to a receiver is 6.2 nW and the noise power at the input to that receiver is 1.8 nW. Find
SNR and SNRdB.