The Polytechnic

Department of Electrical Engineering

NOISE IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEMS
By
M Nkoloma
mnkoloma@poly.c.mw
To
D3E Students
University of
Malawi
The Polytechnic
Outline
What is noise
Noise categories
External
Internal
Noise equivalent circuit

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Noise
In information theory, the term designates
a signal that contains no information
A random disturbance in an electric circuit that interferes with
the reception of a signal

It is also a subjective term, referring to any unwanted
sound
Unpleasant, unwanted sound

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Elements of a communication system









A message originates at a source; the message is sent by a transmitter along a
channel to a receiver; and then the message finally arrives at a destination.
Unwanted noise is superimposed throughout in a system and interfere with
communication.

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NOISE CATEGORIES
External
Natural noise
Man-made noise

Internal
Thermal noise
Shot noise
Partition noise
Flicker noise

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External noise
Noise originating from outside the communication system.

Natural noise
Noise that arise due to natural phenomenon
eg Lighting, thunderstorm, solar flares and other general atmospheric disturbances
(eg cosmic noise)
Man-made noise
Noises that arise due to pick up of undesired signals from other sources.
eg faulty electrical contacts, electrical appliances, ignition radiation, fluorescent
lighting.
Removing the noise source or shielding the communication system minimize
their effects.

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Internal noise
Noise generated within the components used in
the communication system.
Difficult to eliminate as they come from various
components.
Eg:
Thermal noise or Johnson noise
Shot noise
Partition noise
Flicker noise


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Internal noise cont.
Internal noise obey certain physics laws.

An understanding of these laws enables systems
to be designed in such a way as to minimize their
effects.

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Thermal noise
or Johnson noise
Arises from the random motion of free electrons
in a conductor as a result of receiving thermal
energy
Relationship exist between instantaneous
thermal noise voltage and temperature:




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KTBR V
n
4
2

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Thermal noise
or Johnson noise

Vn is the thermal noise voltage.
K is the Boltzmanns constant.

T is the absolute temperature of the conductor.
R is the resistance of the conductor.
B is the bandwidth over which noise is measured.

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KTBR V
n
4
2

K J / 10 38 . 1
23

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Thermal noise
or Johnson noise

This noise can be minimized by:
Reducing the bandwidth of the system.
Keeping the temperature of the communication
system low.
Designing the communication system circuits to have
a low resistance.

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KTBR V
n
4
2

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Noise equivalent circuit
Consist of a noise voltage generator in series with
a noiseless resistance, or a noise current
generator in parallel with noiseless conductance.

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Maximum noise power
Noisy resistance and its equivalent circuit




Maximum noise power is delivered to the load when
load resistance = R
Hence the maximum noise delivered to the load is given
as


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( )
2
2
2
L
n
n
R R
V
I

=
( )
2
2
2
L
L n
L n N
R R
R V
R I P
+
= =
KTB
R
V
P
n
N
= =
4
2
max
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Example
Calculate the rms noise voltage arising from
thermal noise in two resistors, 100 and 150
respectively, at T = 300K within bandwidth of
1MHz if
The resistors are connected in series
The resistors are connected in parallel
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Solution
When the resistors are connected in series





When the resistors are connected in parallel

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) ( 4
2 1
2
R R KTB V
n
+ =
) 150 100 ( 10 300 10 38 . 1 4
6 23
2
+ =

n
V
2 12
2
10 14 . 4 volt V
n

=
V V
n
03 . 2 =
V V
n
997 . 0 =
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Reading assignment
Shot noise
Partition noise
Flicker noise

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Signal to Noise ratio (SNR)
Telecommunication systems are characterized by the fact that
received signals are always accompanied by noise.

Effectiveness is measured in terms of the ratio of signal power to
noise power, SNR.

SNR measures:
Performance of the communication system.
Purity of the signal.

It is the ratio of the strength of a signal carrying information to
unwanted interference in an electronic circuit



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Signal to Noise ratio (SNR)
Signal power is given as:-

Noise power is given as:-

Signal to noise ratio (SNR) is given as:-

This is usually expressed in decibels (dB)


Minimum accepted SNR depends on application
Telephone circuits = 26db
High quality audio transmission = 60db
Tv transmission = 47db

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R
V
P
s
S
4
2
=
R
V
P
N
N
4
2
=
2
2
2
|
|
.
|

\
|
= =
N
s
N
s
V
V
V
V
SNR
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
N
s
dB
V
V
SNR log 20
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Noise factor & noise figure
Measure of the degradation of the signal to noise ratio.




Mathematically noise factor is defined as:



Where
G is the gain of the network
N
ai
is the noise introduced by the network referred to the input of the network.
S
i
the input signal power and S
o
the output signal power.



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O
i
SNR
SNR
F =
( )
|
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
= =
ai i
i
i
i
o
o
i
i
N N G
GS
N
S
N
S
N
S
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Therefore noise factor can also be reduced and defined as:



Noiseless network has unity noise factor.
Noise figure
Noise factor expressed in dB


Noise factor & noise figure
dB
SNR
SNR
F
o
i
dB
|
|
.
|

\
|
= log 10
i
ai i
N
N N +
=
( )
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
= =
ai i
i
i
i
o
o
i
i
N N G
GS
N
S
N
S
N
S
F
Noise introduced by a network






Assuming that only thermal noise is available.
Noise introduced by a network can be defined as




i
ai i
N
N N
F
+
=
free noise was network the if noise output Total
power noise output Total
F =
( )
i ai
N F N 1 =
( )KTB F N
ai
1 =
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Problem
For a system with an input noise of 8V, an output noise
of 500V and power gain of 24.771dB. Calculate the
noise factor.

Noise factor for networks in cascade
Consider two networks in cascade



Noise available at the output


Noise power available at the output if the network was noise
free






2 1 2 02 a o
N N G N + =
( )
2 1 1 2 02 a a i
N N N G G N + + =
i
N G G N
2 1 02
=
Noise factor for networks in cascade
Noise factor is given as

Hence the overall noise factor F is given as


But and

Thus hence



free noise was network the if noise output Total
power noise output Total
F =
( )
i
a a i
N G G
N N N G G
F
2 1
2 1 1 2
+ +
=
( )
i
a
i
a i
N G G
N
N G
N N G
F
2 1
2
1
1 1
+
+
=
( )
i
a i
N G
N N G
F
1
1 1
1
+
=
( )
i
a
i
a i
N G
N
N G
N N G
F
2
2
2
2 2
2
1+ =
+
=
i
a
N G
N
F
2
2
2
1=
1
2
1
1
G
F
F F

+ =
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Noise factor for networks in cascade
In general, if n networks are connected in cascade the overall
noise factor can be obtained as follows;



This is called the FRIISs formula

Observe that the major contribution to the overall noise factor is
produced by the first stage network.
Extremely important to ensure that the first network in any cascade system
has a low noise figure.
1 3 2 1 2 1
3
1
2
1
.....
1
.....
1 1

+ +

+ =
n
n
G G G G
F
G G
F
G
F
F F
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Problems
A preamplifier with power gain to be found and a noise figure of
2.5 dB is cascade with a mixer with a gain of 2 dB and a noise
figure of 8 dB. Find the preamplifier gain such that the overall
noise figure of the cascade is at most 4 dB.
Answer: 8.6 dB

Given that three amplifiers are connected in cascade and have the
following data: F1 = 7, F2 = 5, F3 = 4, A1 = 100, A2 = 30 and A3 =
20. Calculate the overall noise figure in dB.
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EFFECTIVE NOISE TEMPERATURE
This is a fictitious temperature, T
e
used to represent the
effects of noise in a network.

Noise introduced by a network
N
ai
= KT
e
B
N
ai
= K(F-1)T
o
B
Where T
e
is the effective noise temperature
T
o
is the reference temperature
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EFFECTIVE NOISE TEMPERATURE - Passive network
Passive network
Realized when network gain G<1
Characterized by insertion loss, L.
L is the reciprocal of power gain, 1/G


L = F when a network is matched both at the input and output

Therefore T
e
= (F-1)T
o
OR T
e
= (L-1)T
o
for a passive matched network

L is attenuation loss factor or insertion loss

F = 1 + T
e
/T
o

power Output
power Input
L =
EFFECTIVE NOISE TEMPERATURE
Overall noise factor, F is given as

From the relationship: F = 1 + T
e
/T
o

Hence the overall effective noise temperature is given as


Therefore the overall effective noise temperature is
given as
1 3 2 1 2 1
3
1
2
1
.....
1
.....
1 1

+ +

+ =
n
n
G G G G
F
G G
F
G
F
F F
o n
en
o
e
o
e
o
e
o
e
T G G G G
T
T G G
T
T G
T
T
T
T
T
1 3 2 1 2 1
3
1
2
1
.....
..... 1 1

+ + + + + = +
1 3 2 1 2 1
3
1
2
1
.....
.....

+ + + + =
n
en e e
e e
G G G G
T
G G
T
G
T
T T
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Problem
Consider a receiver system consisting of an antenna with lead-in cable
having a loss factor of L = 1.5dB = F, an RF preamplifier with a noise figure
of 7dB and a gain of 20dB, followed by a mixer with a noise figure of 10dB
and a conversion gain of 8dB, and finally an integrated-circuit IF amplifier
with a noise figure 6dB and a gain of 60dB.

Find the overall noise figure and noise temperature of the system.
8.57dB, 1796K

Find the overall noise figure and noise temperature of the system with
the preamplifier and cable interchanged. 7.12dB, 1203K
END OF LECTURE
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