Noise Analysis

Page 21-34

Definition
Any undesirable electrical energy that falls within the
passband of the signal.
What is passband?

For example: in audio recording, any unwanted electrical

signals that fall within the audio frequency band of 0 15
kHz & interfere with the actual information (e.g. music) =
noise.
Noise categories: correlated & uncorrelated
Correlated: noise exists only when a signal is present
Uncorrelated: noise exists all the time whether a signal is
present or not.

FIGURE 1-6

Effects of noise on a signal: (a) signal without noise; (b) signal with noise

Tomasi
Electronic Communications Systems, 5e

Copyright 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.

Uncorrelated Noise
Can be divided in two groups:
External Noise
Internal Noise

External Noise: Noise generated outside the

device or circuit.
3 main sources:
atmospheric,
extraterrestrial,
man-made

Atmospheric Noise
Atmospheric Noise: Natural electrical disturbances
originate within the earths atmosphere.
Commonly known as static electricity
Effects: sputtering, crackling sound out of speaker
Source: natural electrical source lightning
In form of impulses spread energy over wide range of
frequencies
Magnitude inversely proportional to its frequency.
Freq >30MHz, noise not significant

Extraterrestrial Noise
Electrical signals that originate from outside
Earths atmosphere.
Sometimes called deep-space noise.
Source: Milky Way, other galaxies and the sun
Further divided into 2: Solar & Cosmic Noise
Solar Noise: noise from suns heat
2 parts: Quiet & high intensity

Cosmic Noise: noise continuously distributed throughout the

galaxies.
Source: galaxies, hence noise intensity very small
Commonly known as black-body noise & distributed evenly in the sky

Man-Made Noise
Noise that is produced by mankind.
Dominant source: spark-producing mechanisms
Commutators in electric motors, automobile ignition
systems, ac power generator & switching & fluorescent
light
Also impulsive in nature & covers wide range of
frequencies propagates as same as RF.
High intensity in high populated metro & industrial,
hence normally known as industrial noise.

Impulse Noise & Interference

Impulse noise = high amplitude peaks of short
duration in total noise spectrum.
Sources of impulse: transients from
electromechanical switches, motors etc.
Interference = information signal from one source
produces frequencies outside allocated bandwidth
& interfere with information from other sources.
Citizen Band (CB) Radio Frequency interference

Internal Noise
Electrical interference generated within the
device/cct.
3 main types:
Shot
Transit time
Thermal

Shot Noise
Caused by random arrival of carriers (holes &
electrons) at the o/p element of an electronic
device diode, FET, BJT.
Current carriers (ac or dc) travel in random motion,
not continuous or steady flow. Hence, shot noise
vary randomly and is superimposed onto any
signal present.
Sometimes called transistor noise & additive with
thermal noise.

Transit time noise

Irregular, random variation produced due to any
modification to a stream of carriers as they pass
from the i/p to o/p of a device.
Example: current flows from emitter to collector
This noise becomes significant when the time it
takes for the carrier to pass through a device is
comparable to the period of the signal. This
happens when signal is at very high frequency.

Thermal Noise
Noise associated with the rapid and random movement of
electrons within a conductor due to thermal agitation.
Thermal noise current is ac component.
Present in all electronic components & communications
systems.
Also known as white noise because available for the entire
range of EM spectrum.
Cannot be eliminated, increase with no of devices & length
of ccts.
Other names : Johnson Noise, Brownian.
Very dominant & can determine the performance of a
comm. system.

Thermal Noise Calculation

N = KTB

N: noise power (watts)

B: bandwidth of the device
K: Boltzmans constant 1.38x10-23 j/K
T: temperature in Kelvin (K), T=oC + 273o

Thermal noise EQUALLY distributed throughout

the spectrum.
Hence rms noise power present in the band of
1000 Hz to 2000 Hz = rms noise power present in
the band of 22000 Hz to 23000 Hz!!

Thermal Noise Voltage

Compared to shot noise which is current-based
noise, thermal noise normally expressed in
voltage.
The expression for the noise voltage, VN is:
VN = 4KTBR where R = load resistance

Correlated Noise
Produced by nonlinear amplification.
2 main nonlinear distortion due to the nonlinear
amplification are Harmonic distortion and
Intermodulation distortion.
Harmonic distortion = when unwanted harmonics
of a signal are produced due to the nonlinear
amplification.
Intermodulation = generation of unwanted sum &
difference frequencies produced when 2 or more
signals mix in a nonlinear device.

FIGURE 1-8

Correlated noise: (a) Harmonic distortion; (b) Intermodulation distortion

Tomasi
Electronic Communications Systems, 5e

Copyright 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.

TABLE 1-8

Electrical Noise Sources Summary

Tomasi
Electronic Communications Systems, 5e

Copyright 2004 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
All rights reserved.

SNR & Noise Figure

Ratio of signal power/noise power
Normally in log, SNR (dB) = 10log PS/PN
Noise Factor, F = i/p signal SNR
o/p signal SNR
Noise Figure, NF (dB) = 10logF
NF indicates how much SNR deteriorates as an EM signal
travel from the input to the output of a cct.
Example: If NF of an amplifier is 6 dB, it means at o/p
SNR of the signal is 6 dB less than the same signal as it
was at the i/p.

Equivalent Noise Temperature, Te

Te = T(F-1)
T = environmental temperature (ref. 290K)
F = Noise factor (unitless)