NOISE ANALYSIS

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATIONS
Noise Analysis

Electrical Noise is defined as any undesirable

electrical energy that falls within the passband
of the signal.
Two General Categories:
Correlated Noise - implies a relationship between
the signal and the noise. Therefore, it exist only
when there is a signal.
Uncorrelated Noise - present all the time whether
there is a signal or not.
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Noise that generated outside the device or circuit.
The three primary sources are atmospheric, extraterrestrial, and
man-made.
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Atmospheric Noise
Naturally occurring electrical disturbances that originate within the
Earths atmosphere.
Commonly called static electricity and is the familiar sputtering,
crackling, and so on often heard from a speaker when there is no
signal present.
The source of most static electricity is naturally occurring electrical
conditions such as lightning.
The magnitude of this energy is inversely proportional to its
frequency. At frequencies above, 30 MHz or so, atmospheric noise
is insignificant.
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Extraterrestrial Noise
Consists of electrical signals that originate form outside Earths
atmosphere and is therefore sometimes called deep-space
noise.
Originates from the Milky Way, other galaxies, and the sun.
Subdivided into two categories: Solar and Cosmic
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Extraterrestrial Noise
Solar Noise
o Generated directly from the suns heat.
o There are two parts to solar noise: a quiet condition, when
a relatively constant radiation intensity exists, and high
intensity, sporadic disturbances caused by sunspot activity
and solar flare-ups.
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Extraterrestrial Noise
Cosmic Noise
o Sources are continuously distributed throughout the
galaxies.
o Because the sources of galactic noise are locate much
farther away than our sun, their noise is relatively small.
o Often called black-body noise and is distributed fairly
evenly throughout the sky.
Uncorrelated Noise
External Noise
Man-made Noise
Simply the noise that is produced by mankind.
The predominant sources of man-made noise are spark-producing
mechanisms, such as commutators in electric motors, automobile
ignition systems, ac power-generating and switching equipment,
and fluorescent lights.
Impulsive in nature and contains a wide range of frequencies that
are propagated through space in the same manner as the radio
waves.
Most intense in the more densely populated metropolitan and
industrial areas and is therefore sometimes called industrial noise.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
An electrical interference generated within a device or circuit.
There are three primary kinds of internally generated noise: shot
noise, transit time, and thermal.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
Shot Noise
Caused by the random arrival of carriers (holes and electrons) at
the output element of an electronic device, such as diode, FETs, or
BJTs.
First observed in the anode current of a vacuum-tube amplifier
and was described mathematically by W. Schottky in 1918.
The current carriers (for both ac and dc) are not moving in a a
continuous, steady flow, as the distance they travel varies because
of their random path of motion.
Randomly varying and is superimposed onto any signal present.
When amplified, sounds similar to metal pellets falling on a tin roof.
Sometimes called transistor noise and is additive with thermal
noise.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
Transit Time Noise
Any modification to a stream of carriers as they pass from the
input to the output of a device (such as from emitter to the
collector of a transistor) produces an irregular, random
variation categorized as transit-time noise.
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, the noise become noticeable.
Determined by the carrier mobility, bias voltage, and
transistor construction.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
Thermal Noise
Associated with the rapid and random movement of
electrons within a conductor due to thermal agitation.
English botanist Robert Brown first noted of this random
movement in pollen grains and smoke particles.
J.B. Johnson of Bell Telephone Laboratories first recognized
random movement of electrons in 1927.
Present in all electronic components and communication
systems.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
Thermal Noise
Uniformly distributed across the entire electromagnetic
frequency spectrum, so it is often referred to as white noise.
Form of additive noise, meaning it cannot be eliminated, and
it increases in intensity with the number of devices in a circuit
and with circuit length.
Sets the upper bound on the performance of a
communications systems.
Uncorrelated Noise
Internal Noise
Thermal Noise
Johnson proved that thermal noise power is proportional to the
product of the bandwidth and temperature. Mathematically, noise
power is:

=
Where:
= noise power (watts)
= bandwidth (hertz)
= absolute temperature (Kelvin)(room temperature = 17 C)
= Boltzmanns proportionality constant ( 1.38 1023J/K)
Correlated Noise
Correlated Noise
A form of internal noise that is correlated (mutually related) to
the signal and cannot be present in a circuit unless there is a
signal.
Produced by non-linear amplification and includes harmonic
and intermodulation distortion, both of which are forms of
nonlinear distortion.
Correlated Noise
Correlated Noise
A form of internal noise that is correlated (mutually related) to
the signal and cannot be present in a circuit unless there is a
signal.
Produced by non-linear amplification and includes harmonic
and intermodulation distortion, both of which are forms of
nonlinea distortion.
Correlated Noise
Harmonic Distortion
Occurs when unwanted harmonics of a signal are produced
through nonlinear amplification (nonlinear mixing).
Harmonics are integer multiples of the original signal. The original
signal is the first harmonic, and is called the fundamental
frequency. A frequency two times the original signal frequency is
the second harmonic, and so forth.
Also called as amplitude distortion
Correlated Noise
Harmonic Distortion
Various degrees of harmonic distortion:
o Second-order ratio of the rms amplitude of the second harmonic to the
rms amplitude of the fundamental.
o Third-order ratio of the rms amplitude of the third harmonic to the rms
amplitude of the fundamental.
A more meaningful measurement is total harmonic distortion
(TDH), which is the ratio of the quadratic sum of the rms values of
all the higher harmonics to the rms value of the fundamental.
Correlated Noise
Harmonic Distortion
Mathematically, TDH is:

% = 100

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

= 2 2 + 3 2 + 2
= rms voltage of the fundamental frequency
Correlated Noise
Intermodulation Distortion
Is the generation of unwanted sum and difference frequencies
produced when two or more signal mix in a nonlinear device.
The sum and difference frequencies are called cross products.
Cross products are produced when harmonics as well as
fundamental frequencies mix in a nonlinear device.
Correlated Noise
Intermodulation Distortion
Mathematically,
= 1 2

Where:
1 and 2 = fundamental frequencies (1 > 2 )
and = are positive integers between one and infinity
Noise Voltage
For worst case condition and maximum power transfer of
noise power, the load resistance (R) is made equal to RI.
Thus, the noise voltage dropped across R is equal to half
the noise source (VR = VN/2), and the noise power (N)
developed across the load resistor is equal to KTB.
Noise Voltage
Mathematically, VN is equal to
= 4
Where
= noise power (watts)
= bandwidth (hertz)
= absolute temperature (Kelvin)(room temperature = 17 C)
= Boltzmanns proportionality constant ( 1.38 1023 J/K)\
= load resistance (ohms)
Noise Voltage
Example:
1. For an electronic device operating at a temperature of 17C with
a bandwidth of 10 kHz, determine:
a) Thermal noise power in watts and dBm
b) Rms Voltage for a 100 internal resistance and a 100 load
resistance.

ANSWER: (a) 4 x 10-17 W or -134 dBm (b) 0.1265V

Noise Voltage
Example:
2. Determine:
a) 2nd, 3rd, and 12th harmonics for a 1kHz repetitive wave.
b) Percent second-order, third order, and total harmonic distortion
for a fundamental frequency with an amplitude of 8 Vrms, a
second harmonic amplitude of 0.2 Vrms, and a third harmonic
amplitude of 0.1 Vrms.

ANSWER: (a) 2 kHz, 3kHz, 12kHz (b) 2.5%, 1.25%, 2.795%

Noise Voltage
Example:
3. For a nonlinear amplifier with two input frequencies, 3kHz and
8kHz, determine:
a) First three present in the output for each input frequency.
b) Cross-product frequencies produced for values of m and n of 1
and 2.

ANSWER: (a) 3kHz and 8kHz, 6kHz and 16kHz, 9kHz and 24kHz
Impulse Noise
Characterized by high-amplitude peaks of short duration
in the total noise spectrum/
Consists of sudden burst of irregularly shaped pulses that
generally last between a few microseconds and several
milliseconds, depending on their amplitude and origin.
Interference
Is a form of external noise and, as the name implies,
means to disturb or detract from.
Electrical interference is when information signal from one
source produce frequencies that fall outside their
allocated bandwidth and interfere with information
signals from another source.
Signal-to-Noise Power Ratio (S/N)
The ratio of the signal power level to the noise power level.
Mathematically,

=

Where:
= signal power (watts)
= noise power (watts)
In terms of dB,

= 10 log

Signal-to-Noise Power Ratio (S/N)
In terms of voltages and resistances,
2

= 10 log
2

Where:
= input resistance (ohms)
= output resistance (ohms)
= signal voltage (volts)
= noise voltage (volts)
Noise Factor (F) and Noise Figure (NF)
Noise factor and noise figure are figures of merit used to
indicate how much the signal-to-noise ratio deteriorates
as a signal passes through a circuit or series of circuit.
Noise factor is simply the ratio of input-signal-to-noise
power ratio to output-signal-to-noise power ratio.
Mathematically,

=

Noise Factor (F) and Noise Figure (NF)
Noise figure is simply the noise factor stated in dB and is a
parameter commonly used to indicate the quality of a
receiver.