notes and a tutorial overview about the basics of sensitivity in radio receivers RF circuits detailing the various methods

used and why sensitivity is essential. Receiver sensitivity tutorial includes: Receiver sensitivity overview Signal to noise ratio SINAD Noise figure Receiver noise floor Reciprocal mixing

Receiver sensitivity or RF sensitivity is one of the key specifications of any radio receiver whether it is used for Wi-Fi, cellular telecommunications broadcast or any other form of wireless communications The ability of the radio receiver to pick up the required level of radio signals will enable it to operate more effectively within its application. The two main requirements of any radio receiver are that it should be able to separate one station from another, i.e. selectivity, and signals should be amplified so that they can be brought to a sufficient level to be heard. As a result receiver designers battle with many elements to make sure that these requirements are fulfilled Methods of specifying sensitivity performance As the RF sensitivity performance of any receiver is of paramount importance it is necessary to be able to specify it in a meaningful way. A number of methods and figures of merit are used dependent upon the application envisaged:

Signal to noise ratio: This is a straightforward comparison ratio of a given signal level to the noise within the system. SINAD: This receiver sensitivity measurement is slightly more formalised, and it also includes distortion as well as the noise. Noise factor : This RF receiver measurement compares the noise added by a unit - this could be an amplifier or other unit within the system or it could be a complete receiver. Noise figure: The noise figure, or NF of a unit or system is the logarithmic version of the noise factor. It is widely used for specifications of sensitivity

and noise performance of a receiver, element within a system, or the whole system. Carrier to noise ratio, CNR: The carrier-to-noise ratio is the signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) of a modulated signal. This term is less widely used than SNR, but may be used when there is a need to distinguish between the performance with regards to the radio frequency pass-band signal and the analogue base band message signal after demodulation. Minimum discernable signal, MDS: The Minimum detectable or minimum discernable signal is the smallest signal level that can be detected by a radio receiver, i.e. one that can be processed by its analogue and digital signal chain and demodulated by the receiver to provide usable information at the output. Error vector magnitude, EVM: Error vector magnitude, EVM is a measure that can be used to quantify the performance of a digital radio transmitter or receiver. There various points on the constellation diagram set to identify various digital states. In an ideal link, the transmitter should generate the digital data such that it falls as close to these points as possible - the link should not degrade the signal such that the actual received data does not fall onto these points, and the receiver should also not degrade these positions. In reality, noise enters the system and the received data does not fall exactly onto these positions. The error vector magnitude is a measure of how far from the ideal positions the actual received data elements are. Some times EVM may also be known as the Receive Constellation Error, RCE Bit error rate, BER: Bit error rate is a form of measurement used for digital systems. As the signal level falls or the link quality degrades, so the number of errors in the transmission - bit errors - increases. Measuring the bit error rate gives an indication of the signal to noise ratio, but in a format that is often more useful for the digital domain.

All the receiver sensitivity specification methods use the fact that the limiting factor of the sensitivity of a radio receiver is not the level of amplification available, but the levels of noise that are present, whether they are generated within the radio receiver or outside. Noise Today technology is such that there is little problem in being able to achieve very large levels of amplification within a radio receiver. This is not the limiting factor. In any receiving station or radio communications system, the limiting factor is noise - weak signals are not limited by the actual signal level, but by the noise

masks them out. This noise can come from a variety of sources. It can be picked up by the antenna or it can be generated within the radio receiver. It is found that the level of noise that is picked up externally by a receiver from the antenna falls as the frequency increases. At HF and frequencies below this the combination of galactic, atmospheric and man-made noise is relatively high and this means that there is little point in making a receiver particularly sensitive. Normally radio receivers are designed such that the internally generated noise is much lower than any received noise, even for the quietest locations. At frequencies above 30 MHz the levels of noise start to reach a point where the noise generated within the radio receiver becomes far more important. By improving the noise performance of the radio receiver, it becomes possible to detect much weaker signals. Note on Noise: Noise is present in all electronic and RF circuits. It presents a limitation on many aspects of performance. Noise arises from many causes and sources. Understanding what forms of noise are present and enables the system performance to be tailored to ensure the effects of the noise can be minimised Design for noise performance In terms of the receiver noise performance it is always the first stages or front end that is most crucial. At the front end the signal levels are at their lowest and even very small amounts of noise can be comparable with the incoming signal. At later stages in the radio receiver the signal will have been amplified and will be much larger. The same levels of noise as are present at the front end will be a much smaller proportion of the signal and will not have the same effect. Accordingly it is important that the noise performance of the front end is optimised for its noise performance. It is for this reason that the noise performance of the first radio frequency amplifier within the receiver is of great importance. It is the performance of this circuit that is crucial in determining the performance of the whole radio receiver. To achieve the optimum performance for the first stage of the radio receiver there are a number of steps that can be taken. These include:

Determination of circuit topology The first step in any design is to decide upon the type of circuit to be used. Whether a conventional common emitter style circuit is to be used, or even whether a common base should be employed. The decision will depend upon factors including the matching

input and output impedances, the level of gain required and the matching arrangements to be used. Determination of required gain While it may appear that the maximum level of gain may be required from this stage to minimise the levels of amplification required later and in this way ensure that the noise performance is optimised, this is not always the case. There are two major reasons for this. The first is that the noise performance of the circuit may be impaired by requiring too high a level of gain. Secondly it may lead to overload in later stages of the radio receiver and this may degrade the overall performance. Thus the level of gain required must be determined from the fact that it is necessary to optimise the noise performance of this stage, and secondly to ensure that later stages of the receiver are not overloaded. Choice of active device The type of device to be used is also important. There are generally two decisions, whether to use a bipolar based transistor, or whether to use a field effect device. Having made this, it is obviously necessary to decide upon a low noise device. The noise performance of transistors and FETs is normally specified, and special high performance low noise devices are available for these applications. Determination of current through the active device The design of the first stage of the radio receiver must be undertaken with care. To obtain the required RF performance in terms of bandwidth and gain, it may be necessary to run the device with a relatively high level of current. This will not always be conducive to obtaining the optimum noise performance. Accordingly the design must be carefully optimised to ensure the best performance for the whole radio receiver. Use of low noise resistors It may appear to be an obvious statement, but apart from choosing a low noise active device, consideration should also be given to the other components in the circuit. The other chief contributors are the resistors. The metal oxide film resistors used these days, including most surface mount resistors normally offer good performance in this respect and can be used as required. Optimise impedance matching In order to obtain the best noise performance for the whole radio receiver it is necessary to optimise the impedance matching. It may be thought that it is necessary to obtain a perfect impedance match. Unfortunately the best noise performance does not usually coincide with the optimum impedance match Accordingly during the design of the RF amplifier it is necessary to undertake some design optimisation to ensure the best overall performance is achieved for the radio receiver.

Ensure that power supply noise entering the circuit is removed Power supplies can generate noise. In view of this it is necessary to ensure that any noise generated by the radio receiver power supply does not enter the RF stage. This can be achieved by ensuring that there is adequate filtering on the supply line to the RF amplifier.

Receiver sensitivity is one of the vital specifications of any radio receiver whether it is used on its own or within some form of radio communications system, either a two way radio communications system, or a fixed or mobile radio communications system. The key factor in determining the sensitivity performance of the whole receiver is the RF amplifier. By optimising its performance, the figures for the whole of the receiver can be improved. In this way the specifications for signal to noise ratio, SINAD or noise figure can be brought to the required level. The noise performance and hence the signal to noise ratio is a key parameter for any radio receiver. The signal to noise ratio, or SNR as it is often termed is a measure of the sensitivity performance of a receiver. This is of prime importance in all applications from simple broadcast receivers to those used in cellular or wireless communications as well as in fixed or mobile radio communications, two way radio communications systems, satellite radio and more. There are a number of ways in which the noise performance, and hence the sensitivity of a radio receiver can be measured. The most obvious method is to compare the signal and noise levels for a known signal level, i.e. the signal to noise (S/N) ratio or SNR. Obviously the greater the difference between the signal and the unwanted noise, i.e. the greater the S/N ratio or SNR, the better the radio receiver sensitivity performance. As with any sensitivity measurement, the performance of the overall radio receiver is determined by the performance of the front end RF amplifier stage. Any noise introduced by the first RF amplifier will be added to the signal and amplified by subsequent amplifiers in the receiver. As the noise introduced by the first RF amplifier will be amplified the most, this RF amplifier becomes the most critical in terms of radio receiver sensitivity performance. Thus the first amplifier of any radio receiver should be a low noise amplifier.

Concept of signal to noise ratio SNR Although there are many ways of measuring the sensitivity performance of a radio receiver, the S/N ratio or SNR is one of the most straightforward and it is used in a variety of applications. However it has a number of limitations, and although it is widely used, other methods including noise figure are often used as well. Nevertheless the S/N ratio or SNR is an important specification, and is widely used as a measure of receiver sensitivity

Signal to noise ratio for a radio receiver The difference is normally shown as a ratio between the signal and the noise (S/N) and it is normally expressed in decibels. As the signal input level obviously has an effect on this ratio, the input signal level must be given. This is usually expressed in microvolts. Typically a certain input level required to give a 10 dB signal to noise ratio is specified.

Signal to noise ratio formula The signal to noise ratio is the ratio between the wanted signal and the unwanted background noise.

It is more usual to see a signal to noise ratio expressed in a logarithmic basis using decibels:

If all levels are expressed in decibels, then the formula can be simplified to:

The power levels may be expressed in levels such as dBm (decibels relative to a milliwatt, or to some other standard by which the levels can be compared. Effect of bandwidth on SNR A number of other factors apart from the basic performance of the set can affect the signal to noise ratio, SNR specification. The first is the actual bandwidth of the receiver. As the noise spreads out over all frequencies it is found that the wider the bandwidth of the receiver, the greater the level of the noise. Accordingly the receiver bandwidth needs to be stated. Additionally it is found that when using AM the level of modulation has an effect. The greater the level of modulation, the higher the audio output from the receiver. When measuring the noise performance the audio output from the receiver is measured and accordingly the modulation level of the AM has an effect. Usually a modulation level of 30% is chosen for this measurement. Signal to noise ratio specifications This method of measuring the performance is most commonly used for HF communications receivers. Typically one might expect to see a figure in the region of 0.5 microvolts for a 10 dB S/N in a 3 kHz bandwidth for SSB or Morse. For AM a figure of 1.5 microvolts for a 10 dB S/N in a 6 kHz bandwidth at 30% modulation for AM might be seen.

Points to note when measuring signal to noise ratio SNR is a very convenient method of quantifying the sensitivity of a receiver, but there are some points to note when interpreting and measuring signal to noise ratio. To investigate these it is necessary to look at the way the measurements of signal to noise ratio, SNR are made. A calibrated RF signal generator is used as a signal source for the receiver. It must have an accurate method of setting the output level

down to very low signal levels. Then at the output of the receiver a true RMS AC voltmeter is used to measure the output level.

S/N and (S+N)/N When measuring signal to noise ratio there are two basic elements to the measurement. One is the noise level and the other is the signal. As a result of the way measurements are made, often the signal measurement also includes noise as well, i.e. it is a signal plus noise measurement. This is not normally too much of a problem because the signal level is assumed to be much larger than the noise. In view of this some receiver manufacturers will specify a slightly different ratio: namely signal plus noise to noise (S+N/N). In practice the difference is not large, but the S+N/N ratio is more correct. PD and EMF Occasionally the signal generator level in the specification will mention that it is either PD or EMF. This is actually very important because there is a factor of 2:1 between the two levels. For example 1 microvolt EMF. and 0.5 microvolt PD are the same. The EMF (electromotive force) is the open circuit voltage, whereas the PD (potential difference) is measured when the generator is loaded. As a result of the way in which the generator level circuitry works it assumes that a correct (50 Ohm) load has been applied. If the load is not this value then there will be an error. Despite this most equipment will assume values in PD unless otherwise stated.

While there are many parameters that are used for specifying the sensitivity performance of radio receivers, the signal to noise ratio is one of the most basic and easy to comprehend. It is therefore widely used for many radio receivers used in applications ranging from broadcast reception to fixed or mobile radio communications. - an overview or tutorial of the basics of the SINAD measurement and how SINAD may be used in specifying the sensitivity performance of many radio receivers and radio communications systems One of the measurements that can be made to assess and specify the sensitivity performance of a radio receiver is SINAD. It is very useful in many applications including many two way radio communications systems, mobile radio communications systems, and particularly those at VHF and above. While SINAD may not used as widely as the signal to noise ratio, or noise figure it is nevertheless used commonly and can be found in the specifications of many

radio receivers used in fixed and mobile radio communications systems.. SINAD is often used in conjunction with FM receivers, but it can also be used for AM and SSB quite easily. As with any radio receiver, the design of the RF amplifier is key to its sensitivity performance. A poorly performing RF amplifier will degrade the performance of the whole radio receiver. However a high performance low noise RF amplifier will enable the overall set to provide a high level of sensitivity. Accordingly time should be focussed in the design of the RF amplifier in order that it should reach the required level of performance.

What is SINAD? SINAD is a measurement that can be used for any radio communication device to look at the degradation of the signal by unwanted or extraneous signals including noise and distortion. However the SINAD measurement is most widely used for measuring and specifying the sensitivity of a radio receiver. The actual definition of SINAD is quite straightforward. It can be summarised as the ratio of the total signal power level (Signal + Noise + Distortion) to unwanted signal power (Noise + Distortion). Accordingly, the higher the figure for SINAD, the better the quality of the audio signal. The SINAD figure is expressed in decibels (dB) and can be determined from the simple formula: SINAD = 10Log ( SND / ND )

where: SND = combined Signal + Noise + Distortion power level ND = combined Noise + Distortion power level It is worth noting that SINAD is a power ratio and not a voltage ratio for this calculation. Making SINAD measurements To make the measurement a signal modulated with an audio tone is entered into the radio receiver. A frequency of 1 kHz is taken as the standard as it falls in the

middle of the audio bandwidth. A measurement of the whole signal, i.e. the signal plus noise plus distortion is made. As the frequency of the tone is known, the regenerated audio is passed through a notch filter to remove the tone. The remaining noise and distortion is then measured. Although it is most common to measure the electrical output at the radio receiver audio output terminals, another approach that is not as widely used, is to pass the signal into the loudspeaker and then use a transducer connected to SINAD meter to convert the audio back into an electrical signal. This will ensure that any distortion included by the speaker is incorporated, and it may overcome problems with gaining access to the speaker connections in certain circumstances where this may not be possible. Obtaining the figures for the signal plus noise plus distortion and the noise plus distortion it is then possible to calculate the value of SINAD for the radio receiver of other piece of equipment.

The set up used for making SINAD measurements While the measurements for SINAD can be made using individual items of test equipment, a number of SINAD meters are made commercially. These SINAD meters incorporate all the required circuitry and can be connected directly to radio receivers to make the measurements. Accordingly SINAD meters are a particularly convenient method of making these measurements. Filter for SINAD measurements The notch filter that is required for SINAD measurements to be made has an effect on the measurement. In an ideal world the filter would be infinitely sharp a notch out only the modulating tone. However in the real world the filter will have a finite bandwidth. As its bandwidth increases, so it will remove noise and distortion as well as the tone. However as the distortion products will typically result from the

second and third harmonics of the tone, the filter will not have an effect on this element of the reading. Nevertheless it may still have an effect on the noise levels. In view of this problem some standards set down specifications or guidelines for the filter used in the SINAD measurement. ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) defines a notch filter (ETR 027). With the standard tone frequency of 1 kHz, it states that a filter used for SINAD measurements shall be such that the output the 1000 Hz tone shall be attenuated by at least 40 dB and at 2000 Hz the attenuation shall not exceed 0.6 dB. The filter characteristic shall be flat within 0.6 dB over the ranges 20 Hz to 500 Hz and 2000 Hz to 4000 Hz. In the absence of modulation the filter shall not cause more than 1 dB attenuation of the total noise power of the audio frequency output of the receiver under test. In addition to the filter performance another critical area of a SINAD measurement is the measurement of the output signal power levels. These have to be a true power measurements that accommodate the different form factors of the variety of waveforms, i.e. sine wave for the 1 kHz tone and its harmonics, but the noise will be random and have a different form factor. Applications of SINAD measurements SINAD measurements give an assessment of the signal quality from a receiver under a number of conditions. As such SINAD measurements can be used for assessing a number of elements of receiver performance. Receiver sensitivity: The most common use of the SINAD measurement is to assess the sensitivity performance of a radio receiver. To achieve this the sensitivity can be assessed by determining the RF input level at the antenna that is required to achieve a given figure of SINAD. Normally a SINAD value of 12 dB is taken as this corresponds to a distortion factor of 25%, and a modulating tone of 1 kHz is used. It is also necessary to determine other conditions. For AM it is necessary to specify the depth of modulation and for FM the level of deviation is required. For FM analogue systems ETSI specifies the use of a deviation level of 12.5% of the channel spacing A typical specification might be that a receiver has a sensitivity of 0.25 uV [microvolts] for a 12 dB SINAD. Obviously the lower the input voltage needed to achieve the given level of SINAD, the better the receiver performance. Adjacent channel rejection: This parameter is a measure of the ability of the receiver to reject signals on a nearby channel. As the adjacent channel performance

degrades, so the levels of noise and extraneous signals will increase, thereby degrading the SINAD performance. An initial measurement of SINAD is made at a given level and this is known as the reference sensitivity. The RF input level of the signal for the SINAD measurement is then increased by 3 dB at the receiver antenna input. A second source or signal with modulated with a 400 Hz tone is added with its frequency set to an adjacent channel or at a specific offset from the carrier source used for the basic SINAD measurement. It will be found that the interferer will cause the 400 Hz tone to appear in the audio of the receiver as its level is increased. This will be seen as a degradation in the SINAD as the 400 Hz tone will pass through the SINAD meter notch filter. With the measurement system set up, the interferer signal level is raised until the SINAD value is degraded to the original value obtained at the reference sensitivity. Then the ratio of the interfering level to the wanted signal is the adjacent channel rejection. Receiver blocking: SINAD can be used to form the basis of a receiver blocking measurement. As with other similar measurements a reference SINAD sensitivity level is found. The level of the SINAD signal is increased by 3 dB at the antenna. An un-modulated off channel signal is then added and its level raised until the receiver desensitises to an extent whereby the reference SINAD level is reached. SINAD is a particularly useful measurement format that can be used to determine the performance of a radio receiver under a variety of conditions. Although SINAD is primarily used to specify the basic sensitivity performance of many radio receivers, it can be used for other parameters as well. Additionally it is chiefly used for FM systems, but its use is equally applicable to AM and SSB, and it finds applications for many fixed or mobile radio communications systems including two way radio communications links. It may also be used for digital radio systems as well, although this is not common practice as a measurement known as bit error rate (BER) is more widely used. The overall figure for SINAD will be chiefly dependent upon the performance of the RF amplifier in the receiver. A low noise RF amplifier will enable the set as a whole to provide a good SINAD performance.

What is noise figure - an overview or tutorial about the basics of what is noise figure used for specifying the sensitivity performance of radio receivers and other components in radio communications systems. There are a number of methods of determining the sensitivity of radio receivers and their associated elements within radio communications systems. Of these methods, the noise figure is one of the most widely used methods. Not only is it widely used to assess the sensitivity performance or receivers, but it can be applied to complete receiving systems or to elements such as RF amplifiers. Thus it is possible to use the same notation to measure the noise performance of a whole receiver, or an RF amplifier. This makes it possible to determine whether a low noise amplifier may be suitable for a particular radio communications system by judging their relative levels of performance. In view of this noise figure is a particularly important parameter for a wide variety of radio communications systems from fixed or mobile radio communications systems, two way radio communications systems, and satellite radio communications systems.

Noise figure basics Essentially the measurement assesses the amount of noise each part of the system or the system as a whole introduces. This could be the radio receiver, or an RF amplifier for example. If the system were perfect then no noise would be added to the signal when it passed through the system and the signal to noise ratio would be the same at the output as at the input. As we all know this is not the case and some noise is always added. This means that the signal to noise ratio or SNR at the output is worse than the signal to noise ratio at the input. In fact the noise figure is simply the comparison of the SNR at the input and the output of the circuit. A figure known as the noise factor can be derived simply by taking the SNR at the input and dividing it by the SNR at the output. As the SNR at the output will always be worse, i.e. lower, this means that the noise factor is always greater than one. The noise factor is rarely seen in specifications. Instead the noise figure is always seen. This is simply the noise factor expressed in decibels.

Noise figure In the diagram S1 is the signal at the input, N1 is the noise at the input and S2 is the signal at the output and N2 the noise at the output As an example if the signal to noise ratio at the input was 4:1, and it was 3:1 at the output then this would give a noise factor of 4/3 and a noise figure of 10 log (4/3) or 1.25 dB. Alternatively if the signal to noise ratios are expressed in decibels then it is quite easy to calculate the noise figure simply by subtracting one from another because two numbers are divided by subtracting their logarithms. In other words if the signal to noise ratio was 13 dB at the input and only 11 dB at the output then the circuit would have a noise figure of 13 - 11 or 2 dB.

Typical examples The specifications of different pieces of equipment used for different types of radio communications systems will vary quite widely. A typical HF radio receiver may have a noise figure of 15 dB of more and function quite satisfactorily. A better level of performance is not necessary because of the high level of atmospheric noise. However receiver used for narrow band applications at VHF or above might have a noise figure of 3 or 4 dB. Narrow band RF amplifiers often have a noise figure of around 1 dB. However it is interesting to note that even the best professional wide-band VHF UHF receivers may only have a noise figure of around 8 dB. Noise figure is a very important specification used in a variety of radio communications applications. It may be quoted for radio receivers, individual components, or for a complete receiver system within a fixed or mobile radio communications system. In view of its versatility noise figure is one of the most important parameters for radio communications applications when assessing sensitivity.

Radio receiver noise floor - an overview or tutorial about the basics of the noise floor or a receiver, what it is and how the noise floor affects the performance of a receiver and may affect the design of fixed and mobile radio communications systems. Noise is a fact of life. Despite the best efforts of any design engineers, there is always some background noise present in any radio receiver used for any radio communications system. The noise emanates from many sources, and although the design of the receiver is optimised to reduce it some will always be present. Accordingly a concept that is very useful in many elements of signal theory and hence in radio receiver design is that of a noise floor. The noise floor can be defined as the measure of the signal created from the sum of all the noise sources and unwanted signals within a system. When designing a radio receiver for any radio communications system it is necessary to ensure that the performance of the radio receiver matches the performance required. For some radio communications systems, typically those operating on frequencies below about 30 MHz, the level of noise from the antenna system may be relatively high. In these cases, it is of no use to have an ultra-low noise radio receiver. However in applications such as VHF and UHF fixed or mobile radio communications systems where the levels of received noise are much lower, then a low noise radio receiver is more useful.

Elements of a radio receiver that affect noise floor In order to reduce the levels of noise and thereby improve the sensitivity of the radio receiver, the main element of the receiver that requires its performance to be optimised is the RF amplifier. The use of a low noise amplifier at the front end of the receiver will ensure that its performance will be maximised. Wither for use at microwaves or lower frequencies, this RF amplifier is the chief element in determining the performance of the whole receiver. The next most important element is the first mixer.

Radio receiver noise floor While noise can emanate from many sources, when looking purely at the receiver, the noise is dependent upon a number of elements. The first is the minimum equivalent input noise for the receiver. This can be calculated from the following formula: P = kTB Where: P is the power in watts K is Boltzmann's constant (1.38 x 10^-23 J/K) B is the bandwidth in Hertz Using this formula it is possible to determine that the minimum equivalent input noise for a receiver at room temperature (290K) is -174 dBm / Hz. It is then possible to calculate the noise floor for the receiver: Noise floor = -174 + NF + 10 log Bandwidth

Where NF is the noise figure dBm is the power level expressed in decibels relative to one milliwatt The concept of noise floor is valuable in many radio communications systems and enables the radio receiver design and performance to be matched to the requirements of the overall system. Reciprocal Mixing on Radio Receivers Reciprocal mixing is a key radio receiver performance parameter. Although poor reciprocal mixing performance may not always be obvious, it becomes particularly important when signals apart from the wanted one are strong. Reciprocal mixing performance affects all forms of radio receiver ranging from cellphones, through Wi-Fi and various forms of wireless data communications to all manner of other radio communications systems.

Reciprocal mixing results from the phase noise performance of the local oscillators within the radio receiver. In general the majority of the phase noise is generated by the main synthesizer within the receiver. As such its performance is critical to the reciprocal mixing performance of the equipment. For receivers operating in the presence of local strong signals, the reciprocal mixing performance of the overall receiver is important. In turn this places requirements onto the synthesizers used within the receiver. Reciprocal mixing basics Reciprocal mixing occurs as a result of the phase noise which appears on all signals to a greater or lesser degree. The major problem for a receiver is that the phase noise spreads out either side fot he local oscillator signal. Note on Phase Noise: Phase noise consists of small random perturbations in the phase of the signal, i.e. phase jitter. An ideal signal source would be able to generate a signal in which the phase advanced at a constant rate. This would produce a single spectral line on a perfect spectrum analyzer. Unfortunately all signal sources produce some phase noise or phase jitter, and these perturbations manifest themselves by broadening the bandwidth of the signal. Click on the link for a Phase Noise tutorial

When the phase noise from the local oscillator signal is superimposed onto a strong off channel signal this can mask out a much lower level wanted signal that is within the receiver passband. To look at how reciprocal mixing occurs take the case of a superhet receiver tuned to a strong signal. The signal will pass through the radio frequency stages, and then in the mixer it will be mixed with the local oscillator to produce a new signal at the right frequency to pass through the IF filters. When the local oscillator is tuned away by ten kilohertz, for example the signal will no longer be able to pass through the IF filters. However it will still be possible for the phase noise on the local oscillator to mix with the strong incoming signal to produce a signal that will fall inside the receiver pass-band as shown. This could be sufficiently strong to mask out a weak signal within the receiver passband.

The way in which phase noise on a signal results in reciprocal mixing Reciprocal mixing measurement and specification A number of different methods are used to define the level of reciprocal mixing. Generally they involve the response of the receiver to a large off channel signal. To perform a reciprocal mixing measurement is rarely easy. The signal generator must always be much better than the receiver, otherwise the performance of the signal generator will be measured! To overcome this many people use an old valve generator because their performance is often very good in this respect. A measurement can be made by noting the level of audio with a BFO on from a small signal. The signal is then tuned off channel by a given amount, normally about 20 kHz and then increased until the audio level rises to the same level as a result of the phase noise from the receiver. As the noise level is dependent upon the bandwidth of the receiver this has to be specified as well. Generally a bandwidth useable for SSB is used i.e. 2.7 kHz. For example a good HF communications receiver might have a figure of 95 dB at a 20 kHz offset using a 2.7. kHz bandwidth. This figure will improve as the frequency offset from the main channel is increased. At 100 kHz one might expect to see a figure in excess of 105 dB or possibly more.Another way of measuring the phase noise response is to inject a large signal into the receiver and monitor the level needed to give a 3 dB increase in background noise level.The reciprocal mixing performance of many radio receivers and radio receiver modules is seldom published. Nevertheless it is still an important characteristic that needs to meet the required levels if operation in environments where strong signals are present is envisaged. To ensure that the required reciprocal mixing performance is achieved, the local oscillator which is normally a frequency synthesizer must have a good phase noise performance.