10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
1/9
Noise Figure and SNR
Of course, in addition to noise, the input to an amplifier in a
receiver will typically include our desired signal.
Say the power of this input signal is Ps in . The output of the
amplifier will therefore include both a signal with power Ps out ,
and noise with power Pn out :
Ps in ,Nin
Ps out , Pn out
G
where:
and:
Ps out = G Ps in
Pn out = Nin + G kTe B
= G k (Tin +Te ) B
In order to accurately demodulate the signal, it is important
that signal power be large in comparison to the noise power.
Thus, a fundamental and important measure in radio systems
is the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR):
SNR
Jim Stiles
Ps
Pn
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
2/9
The larger the SNR, the better!
At the output of the amplifier, the SNR is:
SNRout
Ps out
= out
Pn
G Ps in
=
G k (Tin +Te ) B
Ps in
=
k (Tin +Te ) B
Moreover, we can define an input noise power as the total
noise power across the bandwidth of the amplifier:
Pn in = Nin B = kTin B
And thus the input SNR as:
Ps in
Ps in
SNRin = in =
Pn
kTin B
Now, lets take the ratio of the input SNR to the output SNR:
SNRin
Ps in k (Tin +Te ) B
=
SNRout kTin B
Ps in
Tin +Te
Tin
T
=1+ e
Tin
=
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
3/9
Since Te > 0 , it is evident that:
SNRin
T
=1+ e >1
SNRout
Tin
In other words, the SNR at the output of the amplifier will be
less than the SNR at the input.
This is very bad news!
This result means that the SNR will always be degraded as
the signal passes through any microwave component!
As a result, the SNR at the input of a receiver will be
the largest value it will ever be within the receiver. As
the signal passes through each component of the
receiver, the SNR will get steadily worse!
Q: Why is that? After all, if we have several amplifiers in
our receiver, the signal power will significantly increase?
A: True! But remember, this gain will likewise increase the
receiver input noise by the same amount. Moreover, each
component will add even more noisethe internal noise
produced by each receiver component.
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
4/9
Thus, the power of a signal traveling through a receiver
increasesbut the noise power increases even more!
Note that the ratioSNRin SNRout essentially quantifies the
degradation of SNR by an amplifiera ratio of one is ideal, a
large ratio is very bad.
So, lets go back and look again at ratio SNRin SNRout :
SNRin
T
=1+ e
SNRout
Tin
Note what this ratio depends on, and what it does not.
This ratio depends on:
1. Te (a device parameter)
2. Tin (not a device parameter)
This ratio does not depend on:
1. The amplifier gain G.
2. The amplifier bandwidth B.
We thus might be tempted to use the ratio SNRin SNRout as
another device parameter for describing the noise
performance of an amplifier. After all, SNRin SNRout depends
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
5/9
on Te , but does not depend on other device parameters such as
G or B.
Moreover, SNR is a value that can generally be easily
measured!
But the problem is the input noise temperature Tin . This can
be any valueit is independent of the amplifier itself.
For example, it is event that as the input noise increases to
infinity:
T
SNRin
= lim 1 + e = 1
lim
Tin SNR
Tin
out
Tin
In other words, if the input noise is large enough, the
internally generated amplifier noise will become insignificant,
and thus will degrade the SNR very little!
Q: Degrade the SNR very little! This meansSNRout = SNRin !
Isnt this desirable?
A: Not in this instance. Note that if Tin increases to infinity,
then:
Ps in
lim SNRin = lim
Tin
Tin kT B
in
=0
In other words, the SNR does is not degraded by the
amplifier only because the SNR is already as bad
(i.e., SNR = 0 ) as it can possibly get!
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
6/9
Conversely, as the input noise temperature decreases toward
zero, we find:
T
SNRin
= lim 1 + e
Tin 0 SNR
Tin 0
out
Tin
lim
Q: Yikes! The amplifier degrades the SNR by an infinite
percentage! Isnt this undesirable?
A: Not in this instance. Note that if Tin decreases to zero,
then:
Ps in
lim SNRin = lim
Tin 0
Tin 0 kT B
in
Note this is the perfect SNR, and thus the ratio
SNRin SNRout will likewise be infinity, regardless of the
amplifier.
Anyway, the point here is that although the degradation of
SNR by the amplifier does depend on the amplifier noise
characteristics (i.e., Te ), it also on the noise input to the
amplifier (i.e., Tin ).
This input noise is a variable that is unrelated to amplifier
performace
Q: So there is no way to use SNRin SNRout as a device
parameter?
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
7/9
A: Actually there is! In fact, it is the most prevalent
parameter for specifying microwave device noise performance.
This measure is called noise figure.
The noise figure of a device is simply the measured ratio
SNRin SNRout exhibited by a device, for a specific input
noise temperature Tin .
I repeat:
for a specific input noise temperature Tin .
This specific noise temperature is almost always taken as the
standard room temperature of To = 290 K D . Note this was
likewise the standard antenna noise temperature assumption.
Thus, the Noise Figure (F ) of a device is defined as:
F
SNRin
SNRout
Tin =290K D
T
= 1 + e
Tin Tin =290K D
=1+
Jim Stiles
Te
290K D
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
8/9
It is critically important that you understand the
definition of noise figure. A common mistake is to
assume that:
SNRout =
SNRin
F
This is not generally true!
Note this would only be true if Tin = 290K D , but this is almost
never the case (i.e., Tin 290K D generally speaking).
Thus, an incorrect (but widely repeated) statement would be:
The noise figure specifies the degradation of SNR.
Whereas, a correct statement is:
The noise figure specifies the degradation of SNR,
for the specific condition when Tin = 290K D , and for
that specific condition only
The one exception to this is when an antenna is connected to
the input of an amplifier. For this case, it is evident that the
input temperature is TA =Tin = 290K D :
Tin =TA = 290K D
Jim Stiles
G,F
The Univ. of Kansas
SNRout = SNRin F
Dept. of EECS
10/26/2006
Noise Figure and SNR
9/9
Note that since the noise figure F of a given device is
dependent on its equivalent noise temperature Te , we can
determine the equivalent noise temperature Te of a device
with knowledge F:
F =1+
Te
290K
Te = (F 1 ) 290K D
One more point. Note that noise figure F is a unitless value
(just like gain!). As such, we can easily express it in terms of
decibels (just like gain!):
F (dB ) = 10 log10 F
Like gain, the noise figure of an amplifier is typically
expressed in dB.
Jim Stiles
The Univ. of Kansas
Dept. of EECS
