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Noisefactor,noisefigure,andnoisetemperatureNationalInstruments

Noisefactor,noisefigure,andnoisetemperature
PublishDate:Sep12,2013

Overview

Thenoiseofasystemornetworkcanbedefinedinthreedifferentbutrelatedways:noise
factor(Fn),noisefigure(NF)andequivalentnoisetemperature(Te)thesepropertiesare
definableasasimpleratio,decibelratioortemperature,respectively.
TableofContents

1.Noisefactor
2.Noisefigure
3.Noisetemperature
4.Noiseincascadeamplifiiers
1.Noisefactor

Forcomponentssuchasresistors,thenoisefactoristheratioofthenoiseproducedbya
realresistortothesimplethermalnoiseofanidealresistor.Thenoisefactorofasystemis
theratioofoutputnoisepower(Pno)toinputnoisepower(Pni):

Tomakecomparisonseasier,thenoisefactorisalwaysmeasuredatthestandard
temperature(To)290K(standardizedroomtemperature).
TheinputnoisepowerPniisdefinedastheproductofthesourcenoiseatstandard
temperature(To)andtheamplifiergain(G):
Pni=GKBT0(516)
ItisalsopossibletodefinenoisefactorFnintermsofoutputandinputS/Nratio:

whichisalso:

where
Sniistheinputsignaltonoiseratio
Snoistheoutputsignaltonoiseratio
Pnoistheoutputnoisepower
KisBoltzmann'sconstant
(1.38X1023J/K)
Tois290K
Bisthenetworkbandwidthinhertz(Hz)
Gistheamplifiergain
Thenoisefactorcanbeevaluatedinamodelthatconsiderstheamplifieridealandtherefore
amplifiesonlythroughgainGthenoiseproducedbytheinputnoisesource:

or

where
Nisthenoiseaddedbythenetworkoramplifier
(Othertermsaspreviouslydefined)
2.Noisefigure

Thenoisefigureisafrequentlyusedmeasureofanamplifier'sgoodness,oritsdeparture
fromtheideal.Thusitisafigureofmerit.Thenoisefigureisthenoisefactorconvertedto
decibelnotation:
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Noisefactor,noisefigure,andnoisetemperatureNationalInstruments

NF=10LOGFn(521)
where
NFisthenoisefigureindecibels(dB)
Fnisthenoisefactor
LOGreferstothesystemofbase10logarithms
3.Noisetemperature

Thenoisetemperatureisameansforspecifyingnoiseintermsofanequivalent
temperature.EvaluatingEquation518showsthatthenoisepowerisdirectlyproportionalto
temperatureindegreesKelvinandthatnoisepowercollapsestozeroatabsolutezero(0K).
NotethattheequivalentnoisetemperatureTeisnotthephysicaltemperatureofthe
amplifier,butratheratheoreticalconstructthatisanequivalenttemperaturethatproduces
thatamountofnoisepower.Thenoisetemperatureisrelatedtothenoisefactorby:
Te=(Fn1)To(522)
andtonoisefigureby:

NowthatwehavenoisetemperatureTe,wecanalsodefinenoisefactorandnoisefigurein
termsofnoisetemperature:

and

Thetotalnoiseinanyamplifierornetworkisthesumofinternallyandexternallygenerated
noise.Intermsofnoisetemperature:
Pn(total)=GKB(To+Te)(526)
where
Pn(total)isthetotalnoisepower
(othertermsaspreviouslydefined)
4.Noiseincascadeamplifiiers

Anoisesignalisseenbyafollowingamplifierasavalidinputsignal.Thus,inacascade
amplifierthefinalstageseesaninputsignalthatconsistsoftheoriginalsignalandnoise
amplifiedbyeachsuccessivestage.Eachstageinthecascadechainamplifiessignalsand
noisefrompreviousstagesandcontributessomenoiseofitsown.Theoverallnoisefactor
foracascadeamplifiercanbecalculatedfromtheFriisnoiseequation:

where
FNistheoverallnoisefactorofNstagesincascade
F1isthenoisefactorofstage1
F2isthenoisefactorofstage2
Fnisthenoisefactorofthenthstage
G1isthegainofstage1
G2isthegainofstage2
Gn1isthegainofstage(n1).
AsyoucanseefromEquation527,thenoisefactoroftheentirecascadechainis
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Noisefactor,noisefigure,andnoisetemperatureNationalInstruments

dominatedbythenoisecontributionofthefirststageortwo.Highgain,lownoiseamplifiers
(suchaselectroencephalograph[EEG]preamplifiers)typicallyusealownoiseamplifier
circuitforonlythefirststageortwointhecascadechain.
PublicationInformation
Author:JosephJ.CarrJohnM.Brown

Book:IntroductiontoBiomedicalEquipment
Technology,ThirdEdition

Copyright:1998

ISBN:0138494312

LegalNote
ExcerptfromthebookpublishedbyPrenticeHallProfessional(http://www.phptr.com(http://www.phptr.com)).CopyrightPrenticeHallInc.2006.Allrights
reserved.

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