ECEn 464: Wireless Communications Circuits 40

3.5 Noise in Communications Systems

There are several types of noise that are included in communication systems.

1. Thermal Noise (Johnson or Nyquist noise): Created by thermal vibration of bound charges

2. Shot Noise: Random fluctuations of charge carriers in a solid-state device

3. Flicker Noise (1/f noise): Occurs in solid-state components. The noise power varies as 1/f

4. Plasma Noise: Random motion of charges in an ionized gas

Thermal noise tends to be dominant in most systems, so we will concentrate on this. Consider a resistor
with resistance R at a temperature T (in Kelvin). The kinetic energy of the electrons is proportional to T .
The random motion of the electrons create voltage fluctuations at the resistor terminals. The voltage has
zero average, but the RMS value is given by Planck’s blackbody radiation equation
r
4hf BR
vn = (3.80)
e /kB T − 1
hf

where

B Bandwidth in Hertz
h Planck’s constant = 6.546 × 10−34 J·sec
kB Boltzmann’s constant = 1.380 × 10−23 J/K
f frequency (Hz)

If the frequency is large, say f = 100 GHz, and the temperature is low, so that T = 100K, then

hf = 6.5 × 10−23 << kB T = 1.38 × 10−21 (3.81)

This means that the exponent hf /kB T is very small. The inequality gets even larger for microwave fre-
quencies at room temperature (T = 273 K).
Because of this, at microwave frequencies the exponential can be approximated by the first two terms of the
Taylor series,
hf
ehf /kB T ≈ 1 + (3.82)
kB T
This simplifies the RMS voltage to
s
4hf BR p
vn ≈ = 4kB T BR (3.83)
1 + hf /kB T − 1

In this approximation, v n is independent of frequency. For this reason, the thermal noise signal is called
“white noise”. We generally model the noise voltage as a random variable with a zero mean Gaussian dis-
tribution with variance v 2n . Given multiple noise sources, the distributions are independent. Mathematically,
this means that if you combine multiple noise sources, the variance of the sum is equal to the sum of the
variances (we add the noise powers, not the voltages).

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ECEn 464: Wireless Communications Circuits 41

vn

Figure 3.3: Equivalent circuit of a noise source.

We can replace any noisy (warm) resistor with a Thevenin equivalent of a noise source and an ideal, noiseless
resistor (Fig. 3.3). If we connect this equivalent circuit to a bandpass filter with bandwidth B Hz and then
to a second ideal resistor R (where the resistance of the load is chosedn for maximum power transfer), the
noise power delivered to the load is
 2
vn v2
Pn = R= n (3.84)
2R 4R
Note that we do not have another of two in the denominator since the voltage is already an RMS quantity.
Using our expression for v n leads to
4kB T BR
Pn = = kB T B (3.85)
4R
When working with microwave signals, it is often convenient to use units of dBm, which means power
expressed in decibels relative to 1 milliwatt (dBm is 10 log 10 [Power(mW)]). Often, you will hear that the
noise floor of a system is 10 log10 kB T = −174 dBm/Hz at T = 290 K. In order to go from this quantity,
which measures the amount of noise power in a 1 Hz bandwidth, we multiply by the system bandwidth, or
add 10 log10 B in dB to find the total in-band noise power.

3.5.1 Noise Figure

A key measure of system performance is signal-to-noise ratio (SNR):

S Signal Power
SNR = = (3.86)
N Noise Power
A high SNR means that it is easy to recognize the signal, and a low SNR means that the signal is obscured
by noise. Ideal components do not add any noise, so the SNR at the output is the same as the SNR at the
input. Non-ideal component in general will add some additional noise, so the output SNR is less than the
input SNR.
Noise figure is a measure of the degradation in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a signal passes through any
component. The definition of noise figure (F ) is the ratio of the total available noise power at the amplifier
output to the available noise power at the output due to the input noise:
Output noise power
F = ≥1 (3.87)
Ideal output noise power = Gain × input noise power
For an ideal component, F = 1. The gain used in this expression is the available gain
Pavn So
GA = = (3.88)
Pavs Si

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290 K
vn GA B

Figure 3.4: Noisy amplifier.

It can be seen that noise figure is also equal to the ratio of the input SNR to the output SNR:
No No Si /Ni SNRin
F = = = = (3.89)
N i GA Ni So /Si So /No SNRout
We can also write
GA N i + P n Pn
F = =1+ (3.90)
GA N i GA N i
which is also useful for some derivations. Since noise figure is a dimensionless quantity, it is often expressed
in dB.

3.5.2 Equivalent Noise Temperature

We can also express the “noisiness” of a component in terms of an equivalent noise temperature using
P = kB T B:
Si /kB T0 B Te
F = =1+ (3.91)
GSi /GkB (T0 + Te )B T0
When specifying the equivalent temperature Te of a component, we assume that the input noise power
corresponds to room temperature, so that T0 = 290 K. Equivalent temperature is most useful for low noise
figure devices.

3.5.3 Lossy Components

A lossy system component such as a length of lossy transmission line leads to a degradation in SNR. The
basic principle for determining the noise figure of a lossy component is to realize that the noise power at the
output of the component must be the same as the noise power at the input (thermal equilibrium), so that

GNi + GNadded = Ni (3.92)

Solving for the equivalent additional power at the input gives N added = Ni (1 − G)/G. The noise figure is
then
Pn Ni (1 − G) 1
F =1+ =1+ = =L (3.93)
GNi GNi G
where L is the power loss of the device. Thus, the noise figure is the same as the loss.

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ECEn 464: Wireless Communications Circuits 43

3.5.4 Cascaded Networks

If we have two stages in a system,

No = GA2 No1 + Pn2 = GA2 (GA1 Ni + Pn1 ) + Pn2 (3.94)

GA2 (GA1 Ni + Pn1 ) + Pn2 Pn1 Pn2
F = =1+ + (3.95)
Ni GA1 GA2 Ni GA1 Ni GA1 GA2
Because the gain GA1 appears in the denominator of the second and third terms, the first stage in a system is
most critical in obtaining a low noise system if GA1 is large. In terms of the noise figures of the two stages,
Pn1
F1 = 1 + (3.96)
Ni GA1
Pn2
F2 = 1+ (3.97)
Ni GA2
(3.98)

the noise figure of the system is

F2 − 1
F = F1 + (3.99)
GA1
The noise figure of the second state is divided by the gain of the first stage. Again, we can see that the first
stage is most critical in determining the noise figure of the system.

3.6 Low Noise Amplifiers

For an amplifier, it can be shown that

RN
F = Fmin + |Ys − Yopt |2 (3.100)
Gs
where

Ys = Gs + jBs = source admittance

Yopt = optimum source admittance resulting in minimum noise figure F
Fmin = minimum noise figure
RN = equivalent noise resistance of transistor

Since
1 1 − Γs 1 1 − Γopt
Ys = Yopt = (3.101)
Zo 1 + Γ s Zo 1 + Γopt

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2 1  1 − Γs 1 − Γopt 2
|Ys − Yopt | =  1 + Γs − 1 + Γopt 
 
Zo2
 
1  1 − Γs + Γopt − Γs Γopt − 1 − Γs + Γopt + Γs Γopt 2
=  
Zo2  (1 + Γs )(1 + Γopt ) 
 2
1  −2Γs + 2Γopt 
=  
Zo2  (1 + Γs )(1 + Γopt ) 
 2
4  Γs − Γopt 
=   (3.102)
Zo2  (1 + Γs )(1 + Γopt ) 
1
Gs = Re {Ys } = (Ys + Ys∗ )
 2 
1 1 − Γs 1 − Γ∗s
= +
2Zo 1 + Γs 1 + Γ∗s
 
1 1 − Γs + Γ∗s − |Γs |2 + 1 + Γs − Γ∗s − |Γs |2
=
2Zo |1 + Γs |2
1 1 − |Γs |2
= (3.103)
Zo |1 + Γs |2

So, the noise figure becomes

 2
1 − |Γs |2 4  Γs − Γopt 
F = Fmin + RN Zo 
|1 + Γs |2 Zo2 (1 + Γs )(1 + Γopt ) 

4RN |Γs − Γopt |2
= Fmin + (3.104)
Zo (1 − |Γs |2 )|1 + Γopt |2

Now, what we would like is to know the values of Γs to give a fixed noise figure. To do this, we first define
the noise figure parameter N , which consists of all the factors that do not depend on Γ s :

|Γs − Γopt |2 F − Fmin

N= 2
= |1 + Γopt |2 (3.105)
1 − |Γs | 4RN /Zo

We do this to isolate the terms containing Γs , and lump the rest into N . Therefore,

(Γs − Γopt )(Γ∗s − Γ∗opt ) = N (1 − Γs Γ∗s )

|Γs |2 − Γs Γ∗opt − Γ∗s Γopt + |Γopt |2 = N (1 − |Γs |2 )
Γ∗opt Γopt N − |Γopt |2
|Γs |2 − Γs − Γ∗s = (3.106)
1+N 1+N 1+N
Once again, we see this is a circle with
Γopt
CF = (3.107)
N +1
p
N (N + 1 − |Γopt |2 )
rF = (3.108)
N +1
Using these expressions, we can now draw gain, stability, and noise figure circles on the Γ s Smith chart and
pick a value of Γs to achieve multiple specifications.

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ECEn 464: Wireless Communications Circuits 45

3.7 Dynamic Range Issues for Amplifiers

There are a few things we need to understand about the power operation of amplifiers.

1. 1 dB Compression Point: This is defined as the Output power at which the gain has dropped 1 dB
from its low-power value. Note that the slope of the output versus input power curve is 1 dB/dB. We
often denote this point as P1dB .

2. Dynamic Range: Range of input that can be detected by the receiver without appreciable distortion.
Consider an amplifier with a noise figure F:
No No
F = = (3.109)
GA N i GA k B T B
No = F G A kB T B (3.110)

If the minimum detectable signal for the receiver output (denoted as S o,mds ) is X dB above the noise
floor, then

So,mds = −174 dBm + 10 log10 B + FdB + X + GA,dB (3.111)

where we have used that 10 log 10 (kB T /1e − 3) = −174 dBm at T = 290 K. The dynamic range is
then the difference between the 1 dB compression point P 1dB and So,mds , or

DR = P1dB − So,mds = P1dB + 174 dBm − 10 log10 B − FdB − X − GA,dB (3.112)

Ideal amplifier

1 dB
Output Power

Noise floor

Input Power 1 dB compression point

Figure 3.5: Dynamic range of an amplifier.

3. Third Order Intercept (TOI, TOIP, IP3 ): Consider a two-tone test where the input signal is

v(t) = A cos 2πf1 t + A cos 2πf2 t (3.113)

where |f1 − f2 | 5 to 10 MHz. The output frequencies will be of the form

fo = mf1 + nf2 (3.114)

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ECEn 464: Wireless Communications Circuits 46

where m and n are integers. The order of the intermodulation product (IP) is given by |m| + |n|.
Note that 2f1 −f2 and 2f2 −f1 will be inside the communication band. The third order intercept point
PIP is defines as the output power at which the third order IP power intersects the linear power (as-
suming no gain compression/saturation occurs). The slope of the third order intermodulation product
output power versus input power is 3 dB/dB.

4. Spurious Free Dynamic Range: To compute this dynamic range, we continue to use S o,mds as the
lower bound. However, for the upper bound, we take the output power (in the fundamental signal) at
which the third order intermodulation product output power reaches S o,mds .

Jensen & Warnick November 19, 2004