Learn the Fundamentals of Noise Figure Measurement
eBooks
INTRODUCTION
A Primer on the Fundamentals of Noise Figure Measurement
Where accuracy matters, noise has always been a challenge when designing, developing, and measuring your products. In the electronics world, modern receiving systems must often process very weak signals, but the noise added by the system components tends to obscure those weak signals. Sensitivity, bit error ratio (BER), and noise figure (NF) are system parameters that characterize the ability to process low-level signals. Of these parameters, noise figure enables designers and product developers to measure the degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in both individual components and the system as a whole.
Noise figure is often the key parameter that differentiates one system, one amplifier, and one transistor from another. Such varied noise figure specifications imply that highly repeatable and accurate measurements between suppliers and customers are critical. You can easily estimate system sensitivity from the system’s bandwidth once the noise figure is known.
Learn all you need to know about the fundamentals of noise figure — how to take measurements, the tools and devices to characterize the results, and best practices for minimizing measurement uncertainties.