Noise (electronics)

This article is about fundamental noise processes. For 1 Noise types

noise arising from outside sources, see electromagnetic
compatibility and electromagnetic interference.
In electronics, noise is a random uctuation in an elec-
1.1 Thermal noise

Main article: JohnsonNyquist noise

JohnsonNyquist noise[1] (sometimes thermal, Johnson

Analog display of random uctuations in voltage in pink noise.
or Nyquist noise) is unavoidable, and generated by
the random thermal motion of charge carriers (usually
electrons), inside an electrical conductor, which happens
regardless of any applied voltage.
Thermal noise is approximately white, meaning that its
power spectral density is nearly equal throughout the
frequency spectrum. The amplitude of the signal has
very nearly a Gaussian probability density function. A
communication system aected by thermal noise is often
modeled as an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN)
channel.
The root mean square (RMS) voltage due to thermal noise
vn , generated in a resistance R (ohms) over bandwidth f
(hertz), is given by

trical signal, a characteristic of all electronic circuits.[1]

vn = 4kB T Rf
Noise generated by electronic devices varies greatly as it
is produced by several dierent eects. Thermal noise
where kB is Boltzmanns constant (joules per kelvin) and
is unavoidable at non-zero temperature (see uctuation-
T is the resistors absolute temperature (kelvin).
dissipation theorem), while other types depend mostly
on device type (such as shot noise,[1][2] which needs As the amount of thermal noise generated depends upon
a steep potential barrier) or manufacturing quality and the temperature of the circuit, very sensitive circuits such
semiconductor defects, such as conductance uctuations, as preampliers in radio telescopes are sometimes cooled
including 1/f noise. in liquid nitrogen to reduce the noise level.
In communication systems, noise is an error or un-
desired random disturbance of a useful information
signal. The noise is a summation of unwanted or dis-
1.2 Shot noise
turbing energy from natural and sometimes man-made
sources. Noise is, however, typically distinguished from Main article: Shot noise
interference,[lower-alpha 1] for example in the signal-to-
noise ratio (SNR), signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) and If electrons ow across a barrier, then they have discrete
signal-to-noise plus interference ratio (SNIR) measures. arrival times. Those discrete arrivals exhibit shot noise.
Noise is also typically distinguished from distortion, The output of a shot noise generator is easily set by the
which is an unwanted systematic alteration of the signal current. Typically, the barrier in a diode is used.[3]
waveform by the communication equipment, for example Shot noise in electronic devices results from unavoidable
in the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD) and random statistical uctuations of the electric current when
total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N). the charge carriers (such as electrons) traverse a gap. The
While noise is generally unwanted, it can serve a useful current is a ow of discrete charges, and the uctuation
purpose in some applications, such as random number in the arrivals of those charges creates shot noise. Shot
generation or dither. noise is similar to the noise created by rain falling on a

1
2 2 COUPLED NOISE

tin roof. The ow of rain may be relatively constant, but From the frequency at which this eect becomes signif-
the raindrops arrive discretely. icant it goes on increasing with frequency and quickly
The root-mean-square value of the shot noise current in dominates over other terms.
is given by the Schottky formula

2 Coupled noise
in = 2IqB
See also: Electromagnetic compatibility
where I is the DC current, q is the charge of an electron,
and B is the bandwidth in hertz.
Energy external of the receiver can couple noise, also by
The shot noise assumes independent arrivals. Vacuum
energy conversion. Generally this is done by fundamental
tubes have shot noise because the electrons randomly
interaction, in electronics mainly by inductive coupling
leave the cathode and arrive at the anode (plate). A tube
and/or capacitive coupling.
may not exhibit the full shot noise eect: the presence of
a space charge tends to smooth out the arrival times (and
thus reduce the randomness of the current).
2.1 Intermodulation noise
Conductors and resistors typically do not exhibit shot
noise because the electrons thermalize and move diu- Intermodulation noise is caused when signals of dierent
sively within the material; the electrons do not have dis- frequencies share the same non-linear medium.
crete arrivial times. Shot noise has been demonstrated
in mesoscopic resistors when the size of the resistive el-
ement becomes shorter than the electron-phonon scatter-
ing length.[4] 2.2 Crosstalk

Phenomenon in which a signal transmitted in one circuit

1.3 Flicker noise or channel of a transmission systems creates undesired
interference onto a signal in another channel.
Main article: Flicker noise

Flicker noise, also known as 1/f noise, is a signal or pro- 2.3 Interference
cess with a frequency spectrum that falls o steadily into
the higher frequencies, with a pink spectrum. It occurs Modication or disruption of a signal travelling along a
in almost all electronic devices, and results from a variety medium
of eects, though always related to a direct current.

2.4 Atmospheric noise (static noise)

1.4 Burst noise
Main article: Atmospheric noise
Main article: Burst noise
This noise is also called static noise and it is the natu-
Burst noise consists of sudden step-like transitions be- ral source of disturbance caused by lightning discharge
tween two or more levels (non-Gaussian), as high as sev- in thunderstorm and the natural (electrical) disturbances
eral hundred microvolts, at random and unpredictable occurring in nature.
times. Each shift in oset voltage or current lasts for sev-
eral milliseconds, and the intervals between pulses tend
to be in the audio range (less than 100 Hz), leading to the
2.5 Industrial noise
term popcorn noise for the popping or crackling sounds it
produces in audio circuits.
Sources such as automobiles, aircraft, ignition elec-
tric motors and switching gear, High voltage wires and
1.5 Transit-time noise uorescent lamps cause industrial noise. These noises are
produced by the discharge present in all these operations.
If the time taken by the electrons from traveling from
emitter to collector becomes comparable to the period
of the signal being amplied, that is, at frequencies above 2.6 Extraterrestrial noise
VHF and beyond, so-called transit-time eect takes place
and noise input admittance of the transistor increases. Noise from outside the Earth includes:
 3

2.6.1 Solar noise 4. Shielding cables In general, using shielded cables

to protect the wires from unwanted noise frequen-
Noise that originates from the Sun is called solar noise. cies in a sensitive circuit is good practice. A shielded
Under normal conditions there is constant radiation from wire can be thought of as a small Faraday cage for a
the Sun due to its high temperature. Electrical distur- specic wire as it uses a plastic or rubber enclosing
bances such as corona discharges, as well as sunspots can the true wire. Just outside the rubber/plastic cover-
produce additional noise. ing is a conductive metal that intercepts any noise
signal. Because the conductive metal is grounded,
the noise signal runs straight to ground before ever
2.6.2 Cosmic noise getting to the true wire. It is important to ground the
shield at only one end to avoid a ground loop on the
Main article: Cosmic noise shield.
5. Twisted pair wiring Twisting wires very tightly
Distant stars generate noise called cosmic noise. While together in a circuit will dramatically reduce elec-
these stars are too far away to individually aect terres- tromagnetic noise. Twisting the wires decreases the
trial communications systems, their large number leads loop size in which a magnetic eld can run through
to appreciable collective eects. Cosmic noise has been to produce a current between the wires. Even if
observed in a range from 8 MHz to 1.43 GHz. the wires are twisted very tightly, there may still be
small loops somewhere between them, but because
they are twisted the magnetic eld going through the
2.7 Reduction of electromagnetic noise smaller loops induces a current owing in opposite
coupling ways in each wire and thus cancelling them out.
6. Notch lters Notch lters or band-rejection lters
In many cases noise found on a signal in a circuit is un- are essential when eliminating a specic noise fre-
wanted. When creating a circuit, one usually wants a quency. For example, in most cases the power lines
true output of what the circuit has accomplished. There within a building run at 60 Hz. Sometimes a sen-
are many dierent noise reduction techniques that can sitive circuit will pick up this 60 Hz noise through
change a noisy altered output signal to a more theoretical some unwanted antenna (could be as simple as a
output signal. wire in the circuit). Running the output through a
notch lter at 60 Hz will amplify the desired signal
1. Faraday cage A Faraday cage is a good way to re- without amplifying the 60 Hz noise. So in a sense
duce the overall noise in a complete circuit. The the noise will be lost at the output of the lter.
Faraday cage can be thought of as an enclosure that
separates the complete circuit from outside power
lines and any other signal that may alter the true sig- 3 Quantication
nal. A Faraday cage will usually block out most elec-
tromagnetic and electrostatic noise. The noise level in an electronic system is typically mea-
sured as an electrical power N in watts or dBm, a
2. Capacitive coupling A current through two resis- root mean square (RMS) voltage (identical to the noise
tors, or any other type of conductor, close to each standard deviation) in volts, dBV or a mean squared er-
other in a circuit can create unwanted capacitive ror (MSE) in volts squared. Noise may also be charac-
coupling. If this happens an AC signal from one part terized by its probability distribution and noise spectral
of the circuit can be accidentally picked up in an- density N 0 (f) in watts per hertz.
other part. The two resistors (conductors) act like a
capacitor thus transferring AC signals. There may A noise signal is typically considered as a linear ad-
be other reasons for which capacitive coupling is dition to a useful information signal. Typical signal
wanted but then it would not be thought of as elec- quality measures involving noise are signal-to-noise ratio
tronic noise. (SNR or S/N), signal-to-quantization noise ratio (SQNR)
in analog-to-digital conversion and compression, peak
3. Ground loops When grounding a circuit, it is im- signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) in image and video cod-
portant to avoid ground loops. Ground loops occur ing, E /N 0 in digital transmission, carrier to noise ratio
when there is a voltage drop between the two ground (CNR) before the detector in carrier-modulated systems,
potentials. Since ground is thought of as 0V, the and noise gure in cascaded ampliers.
presence of a voltage is undesirable at any point of Noise is a random process, characterized by stochastic
a ground bus. If this is the case, it would not be a properties such as its variance, distribution, and spectral
true ground. A good way to x this is to bring all the density. The spectral distribution of noise can vary with
ground wires to the same potential in a ground bus. frequency, so its power density is measured in watts per
4 9
hertz (W/Hz). Since the power in a resistive element is
proportional to the square of the voltage across it, noise
voltage (density) can be described by taking the square
root of the noise power density, resulting in volts per
root hertz ( V/ Hz ). Integrated circuit devices, such as
operational ampliers commonly quote equivalent input
noise level in these terms (at room temperature).
Noise power is measured in watts or decibels (dB) relative
to a standard power, usually indicated by adding a sux
after dB. Examples of electrical noise-level measurement
units are dBu, dBm0, dBrn, dBrnC, and dBrn(f 1 f 2 ),
dBrn(144-line).
Noise levels are usually viewed in opposition to signal lev-
els and so are often seen as part of a signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR). Telecommunication systems strive to increase the
ratio of signal level to noise level in order to eectively
transmit data. In practice, if the transmitted signal falls
below the level of the noise (often designated as the noise
oor) in the system, data can no longer be decoded at the
receiver. Noise in telecommunication systems is a prod-
uct of both internal and external sources to the system.
In a carrier-modulated passband analog communication
system, a certain carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) at the ra-
dio receiver input would result in a certain signal-to-noise
ratio in the detected message signal. In a digital commu-
nications system, a certain E /N 0 (normalized signal-to-
noise ratio) would result in a certain bit error rate.
4 Dither
If the noise source is correlated with the signal, such as
in the case of quantisation error, the intentional introduc-
tion of additional noise, called dither, can reduce overall
noise in the bandwidth of interest. This technique allows
retrieval of signals below the nominal detection threshold
of an instrument. This is an example of stochastic reso-
nance.
5 See also
Discovery of cosmic microwave background radia-
tion
Generationrecombination noise
Matched lter for noise reduction in modems
Noise reduction and noise cancellation for audio and
images
Error correction for digital signals subject to noise.
Phonon noise
EXTERNAL LINKS
6 Notes
[1] e.g. cross-talk, deliberate jamming or other unwanted
electromagnetic interference from specic transmitters
7 References
[1] Motchenbacher, C. D.; Connelly, J. A. (1993). Low-noise
electronic system design. Wiley Interscience.
[2] Kish, L. B.; Granqvist, C. G. (November 2000). Noise
in nanotechnology. Microelectronics Reliability. El-
sevier. 40 (11): 18331837. doi:10.1016/S0026-
2714(00)00063-9.
[3] Ott, Henry W. (1976), Noise Reduction Techniques
in Electronic Systems, John Wiley, pp. 208,218,
ISBN 0-471-65726-3
[4] Steinbach, Andrew; Martinis, John; Devoret, Michel
(1996-05-13). Observation of Hot-Electron Shot
Noise in a Metallic Resistor. Phys. Rev. Lett.
76 (20): 38.638.9. Bibcode:1996PhRvL..76...38M.
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.76.38.
White noise calculator, thermal noise - Voltage in
microvolts, conversion to noise level in dBu and dBV
and vice versa
This article incorporates public domain material
from the General Services Administration document
Federal Standard 1037C (in support of MIL-STD-
188).
Scherz, Paul. (2006, Nov 14) Practical Electronics
for Inventors. ed. McGraw-Hill.
8 Further reading
Sh. Kogan (1996). Electronic Noise and Fluctua-
tions in Solids. Cambridge University Press. ISBN
0-521-46034-4.
9 External links
Active Filter (Sallen & Key) Noise Study
 5

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