RFIC Design and Testing for Wireless

Communications
A PragaTI (TI India Technical University) Course
July 18, 21, 22, 2008

Lecture 4: Testing for Noise

Vishwani D. Agrawal
Foster Dai
Auburn University, Dept. of ECE, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

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What is Noise?

 Noise in an RF system is unwanted random fluctuations in a desired

signal.
 Noise is a natural phenomenon and is always present in the
environment.
 Effects of noise:
■ Interferes with detection of signal (hides the signal).
■ Causes errors in information transmission by changing signal.
■ Sometimes noise might imitate a signal falsely.
 All communications system design and operation must account for
noise.

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Describing Noise

 Consider noise as a random voltage or current function, x(t), over

interval – T/2 < t < T/2.
 Fourier transform of x(t) is XT(f).
 Power spectral density (PSD) of noise is power across 1Ω
Sx(f) = lim [ E{ |XT(f)|2 } / (2T) ] volts2/Hz
T→∞
This is also expressed in dBm/Hz.

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Thermal Noise

 Thermal (Johnson) noise: Caused by random movement of electrons

due to thermal energy that is proportional to temperature.
 Called white noise due to uniform PSD over all frequencies.
 Mean square open circuit noise voltage across R Ω resistor [Nyquist,
1928]:
v2 = 4hfBR / [exp(hf/kT) – 1]
■ Where
● Plank’s constant h = 6.626 × 1034 J-sec
● Frequency and bandwidth in hertz = f, B
● Boltzmann’s constant k = 1.38 × 10 – 23 J/K
● Absolute temperature in Kelvin = T
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Problem to Solve

 Given that for microwave frequencies, hf << kT, derive the following
Rayleigh-Jeans approximation:
v2 = 4kTBR
 Show that at room temperature (T = 290K), thermal noise power
supplied by resistor R to a matched load is ktB or – 174 dBm/Hz.

Noisy R
resistor Matched
R load

v = (4kTBR)1/2

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Other Noise Types

 Shot noise [Schottky, 1928]: Broadband noise due to random behavior of charge
carriers in semiconductor devices.
 Flicker (1/f) noise: Low-frequency noise in semiconductor devices, perhaps due to
material defects; power spectrum falls off as 1/f. Can be significant at audio
frequencies.
 Quantization noise: Caused by conversion of continuous valued analog signal to
discrete-valued digital signal; minimized by using more digital bits.
 Quantum noise: Broadband noise caused by the quantized nature of charge
carriers; significant at very low temperatures (~0K) or very high bandwidth ( >
1015 Hz).
 Plasma noise: Caused by random motion of charges in ionized medium, possibly
resulting from sparking in electrical contacts; generally, not a concern.

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Measuring Noise

 Expressed as noise power density in the units of dBm/Hz.

 Noise sources:
■ Resistor at constant temperature, noise power = kTB W/Hz.
■ Avalanche diode
 Noise temperature:
■ Tn = (Available noise power in watts)/(kB) kelvins
 Excess noise ratio (ENR) is the difference in the noise output
between hot (on) and cold (off) states, normalized to reference
thermal noise at room temperature (290K):
■ ENR = [k( Th – Tc )B]/(kT0B) = ( Th / T0) – 1
■ Where noise output in cold state is takes same as reference.
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■ 10 log ENR ~ 15 to 20 dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)

 SNR is the ratio of signal power to noise power.

Si/Ni G So/No

Input signal: low peak power, Output signal: high peak power,
good SNR poor SNR
Power (dBm)

G So/No

Si/Ni
Noise floor

Frequency (Hz)
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Noise Factor and Noise Figure

 Noise factor (F) is the ratio of input SNR to output SNR:

■ F = (Si /Ni) / (So /No)
= No / ( GNi ) when S = 1W and G = gain of DUT
= No /( kT0 BG) when No = kT0 B for input noise
source
■ F≥1
 Noise figure (NF) is noise factor expressed in dB:
■ NF = 10 log F dB
■ 0 ≤ NF ≤ ∞

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Cascaded System Noise Factor

 Friis equation [Proc. IRE, July 1944, pp. 419 – 422]:

F2 – 1 F3 – 1 Fn – 1
Fsys = F1 + ——— + ——— + · · · · + ———————
G1 G1 G2 G1 G2 · · · G n – 1

Gain = G1 Gain = G2 Gain = G3 Gain = Gn

Noise factor Noise factor Noise factor Noise factor
= F1 = F2 = F3 = Fn

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Measuring Noise Figure: Cold Noise Method

 Example: SOC receiver with large gain so noise output is measurable;

noise power should be above noise floor of measuring equipment.
 Gain G is known or previously measured.

 Noise factor, F = No / (kT0BG), where

● No is measured output noise power (noise floor)
● B is measurement bandwidth
● At 290K, kT0 = – 174 dBm/Hz
 Noise figure, NF = 10 log F
= No (dB) – (1 – 174 dBm/Hz) – B(dB) – G(dB)
 This measurement is also done using S-parameters.
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Y – Factor

 Y – factor is the ratio of output noise in hot (power on) state to that in
cold (power off) state.
Y = Nh / Nc

= Nh / N0
 Y is a simple ratio.
 Consider, Nh = kThBG and Nc = kT0BG

 Then Nh – Nc = kBG( Th – T0 ) or kBG = ( Nh – Nc ) / ( Th – T0 )

 Noise factor, F = Nh /( kT0 BG) = ( Nh / T0 ) [ 1 / (kBG) ]

= ( Nh / T0 ) ( Th – T0 ) / (Nh – Nc )
= ENR / (Y – 1) 12
Measuring Noise Factor: Y – Factor Method

 Noise source provides hot and cold noise power levels and is
characterized by ENR (excess noise ratio).
 Tester measures noise power, is characterized by its noise factor F2
and Y-factor Y2.

 Device under test (DUT) has gain G1 and noise factor F1.
 Two-step measurement:
■ Calibration: Connect noise source to tester, measure output power
for hot and cold noise inputs, compute Y2 and F2.
■ Measurement: Connect noise source to DUT and tester cascade,
measure output power for hot and cold noise inputs, compute
compute Y12, F12 and G1.
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■ Use Friis equation to obtain F1.
Calibration

Noise Tester
source (power meter)
ENR F2, Y2

 Y2 = Nh2 / Nc2, where

● Nh2 = measured power for hot source
● Nc2 = measured power for cold source

 F2 = ENR / (Y2 – 1)

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Cascaded System Measurement

Noise Tester
DUT
source (power meter)
F1, Y1, G1
ENR F2, Y2
F12, Y12

 Y12 = Nh12 / Nc12, where

● Nh12 = measured power for hot source
● Nc12 = measured power for cold source

 F12 = ENR / ( Y12 – 1 )

 G1 = ( Nh12 – Nc12 ) / ( Nh2 – Nc2 )

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Problem to Solve

 Show that from noise measurements on a cascaded system, the

noise factor of DUT is given by
F2 – 1
F1 = F12 – ———
G1

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Phase Noise

 Phase noise is due to small random variations in the phase of an RF

signal. In time domain, phase noise is referred to as jitter.
 Understanding phase:
δ amplitude
noise

t t
φ
phase
noise
V sin ωt [V + δ(t)] sin [ωt + φ(t)]

ω ω
Frequency (rad/s) Frequency (rad/s) 17
Effects of Phase Noise

 Similar to phase modulation by a random signal.

 Two types:
■ Long term phase variation is called frequency drift.
■ Short term phase variation is phase noise.
 Definition: Phase noise is the Fourier spectrum (power spectral density)
of a sinusoidal carrier signal with respect to the carrier power.
L(f) = Pn /Pc (as ratio)

= Pn in dBm/Hz – Pc in dBm (as dBc)

■ Pn is RMS noise power in 1-Hz bandwidth at frequency f
■ Pc is RMS power of the carrier

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 Phase Noise Analysis

[V + δ(t)] sin [ωt + φ(t)] = [V + δ(t)] [sin ωt cos φ(t) + cos ωt sin φ(t)]

≈ [V + δ(t)] sin ωt + [V + δ(t)] φ(t) cos ωt

In-phase carrier frequency with amplitude noise

White noise δ(t) corresponds to noise floor

Quadrature-phase carrier frequency with amplitude and phase noise

Short-term phase noise corresponds to phase noise spectrum

Phase spectrum, L(f) = Sφ(f)/2

Where Sφ(f) is power spectrum of φ(t)

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Phase Noise Measurement

 Phase noise is measured by low noise receiver (amplifier) and

spectrum analyzer:
■ Receiver must have a lower noise floor than the signal noise
floor.
■ Local oscillator in the receiver must have lower phase noise than
that of the signal.
Power (dBm)

Signal spectrum

Receiver phase noise

Receiver noise floor

Frequency (Hz)
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 Phase Noise Measurement

Pure tone
Input DUT
(carrier)

Hz
offset

Spectrum analyzer power measurement

Power (dBm) over resolution bandwith (RBW) carrier

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Phase Noise Measurement Example

 Spectrum analyzer data:

■ RBW = 100Hz
■ Frequency offset = 2kHz
■ Pcarrier = – 5.30 dBm
■ Poffset = – 73.16 dBm

 Phase noise, L(f) = Poffset – Pcarrier – 10 log RBW

= – 73.16 – ( – 5.30) – 10 log 100

= – 87.86 dBc/Hz
 Phase noise is specified as “ – 87.86 dBc/Hz at 2kHz from the
carrier.”
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Problem to Solve

 Consider the following spectrum analyzer data:

■ RBW = 10Hz
■ Frequency offset = 2kHz
■ Pcarrier = – 3.31 dBm
■ Poffset = – 81.17 dBm
 Determine phase noise in dBc/Hz at 2kHz from the carrier.

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