Investigate Signals and Noise

Electronics By Brendan Burr

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................2 TASK 1..............................................................................4 1.1 Using the appropriate formulae convert the following values of gain to decibels:-................................................4 (a) Power ratio of 100........................................................4 (b) Voltage ratio of 20.......................................................4 (c) Current ratio of 10........................................................4 1.2 Using the appropriate formulae convert the following values of attenuation to decibels:-.....................................5 (a) Power ratio of 0.01.......................................................5 (b) Voltage ratio of 0.05....................................................5 (c) Current ratio of 0.1.......................................................5 1.3 Express the following power levels in dBm :-.................6 (a) 100mW........................................................................6 (b) 2W............................................................................6 (c) 5W..............................................................................6 (d) 1mW...........................................................................6 TASK 2..............................................................................7 2.1 Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate, 3 of the following types and sources of external noise found in electronic systems............................................................7 (a) Mains hum...................................................................7 (b) Switching or contact noise...........................................8 (c) Crosstalk.....................................................................9 2.2 Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate 3 of the following types and sources of internal noise found in electronic systems ..........................................................10 (a) Thermal Noise...........................................................10 2

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(b) Shot Noise ................................................................11 (c) Flicker noise .............................................................12 2.3 Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate 2 different methods used for noise reduction.......................13 TASK 3 ...........................................................................15 3.1 Explain and define the following concepts used to describe the effects of noise and its measurement in electronic systems........................................................... 15 (a) Signal to Noise Ratio. ................................................15 (b) Noise figure or factor.................................................16 3.2 Explain with supporting diagrams where appropriate how Noise can be categorised using colours......................18 EVALUATION...................................................................20 CONCLUSION...................................................................20 BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................21 Books.............................................................................21 Catalogues......................................................................21 Websites......................................................................... 21

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Task 1
1.1 (a) Using the appropriate formulae convert the following values of gain to decibels:Power ratio of 100
P AP =10 LO OUT G PIN dB

AP = 10 LOG (100 ) dB
AP =0 d 2 B

(b)

Voltage ratio of 20
V AV = 20 LOG OUT V IN dB

AV = 20 LOG ( 20 ) dB
A = d 2 6 B V

(c)

Current ratio of 10
I AI = 20 LOG OUT I IN dB

AI = 20 LOG (10 ) dB
AI =0 d 2 B

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

1.2

Using the appropriate formulae convert the following values of attenuation to decibels:Power ratio of 0.01
P AP =10 LO OUT G PIN dB

(a)

AP = 10 LOG ( 0.01) dB
AP = 2 d B 0

(b)

Voltage ratio of 0.05

V AV = 20 LOG OUT V IN dB

AV = 20 LOG ( 0.05 ) dB
A V =2 d B 6

(c)

Current ratio of 0.1

I AI = 20 LOG OUT I IN dB

AI = 20 LOG ( 0.1) dB
AI = 2 d B 0

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

1.3 (a)

Express the following power levels in dBm :100mW

P dBm =10 LOG OUT 1mW

0.1 dBm = 10 LOG 3 110

= d 2 0 B m

(b)

2W
P dBm =10 LOG OUT 1mW

2 10 6 dBm = 10 LOG 1 10 3
= d 2 7 B m

(c)

5W
P dBm =10 LOG OUT 1mW

5 dBm = 10 LOG 3 110

= d 3 7 B m

(d)

1mW
P dBm =10 LOG OUT 1mW

1 10 3 dBm = 10 LOG 1 10 3
=B 0d m

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Task 2
2.1 Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate, 3 of the following types and sources of external noise found in electronic systems. Mains hum Mains hum is an audible oscillation of Alternating Current. It can be caused by minute changes of the material in which AC Current is travelling, which occurs because of the presence of something called magnetostriction in ferromagnetic materials. This type of hum is mainly noticed around large transformers. It can also be caused when susceptible audio equipment is placed close to mains powered devices, such as power transformers, where the alternating electromagnetic field causes interference with the device, this is then heard through loudspeakers and amplifiers.

(a)

Electric hum is common around large transformers due to the magnetic core. Mains Hum can be alleviated by using a band-stop filter, however its higher harmonics may still remain. A common example of audible Mains Hum is under an electricity pylon, where there is a constant low frequency noise.

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(b) Switching or contact noise An example of when Switching/Contact Noise occurs is when using Switching Regulators in Circuits. They are used in circuits to change a DC Current into an AC, amplify it and then convert it back to DC. The process can cause a noise which is can affect other parts of the circuit. When the switch is transferred to a different state there is a sudden spike in the waveform caused by the current bridging the closing gap between the two contacts, just before contact. The voltage/current spike can overload the other components in the circuit and can cause them to become damaged and faulty.

On the above image the you can see two waveforms, the lower waveform shows the voltage of a circuit that automatically switches on/off approximately every 0.3 seconds. On the upper waveform you can see that every time the circuit switched on, there is a noise which is picked up and increases the lower waveform (switcher output) by 0.2V.

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(c)

Crosstalk This is where a signal transmitted in one circuit can affect another circuit. In terms of electrical circuits in aircraft, crosstalk is tested for by the EMC Department, who test for susceptibility over multiple circuits, ensuring there is no conflict on the Flight Safety Critical Systems. If a high powered signal is sent through one cable and next to it there was another cable which was sending a low powered signal, there could be interference between the two signals, causing a false reading on a display. This could be extremely important when it comes to measurement instruments such as the Radar Altimeter on aircraft, a false reading here could cause a catastrophic accident due to the pilot believing he/she has a larger distance between the landing gear and the ground. An purely acoustic example of crosstalk is an electric guitar and a microphone, where the microphone picks up the amplified guitar and then amplifies again creating a high pitched sound. The image below shows a twisted cable that has a test meter connected. An oscillation is sent through a similar cable, located next to the first cable. Due to crosstalk you can see a slight reading on the test meter, which should be recording 0A/0V.

Crosstalk can also occur in wireless communications where information is send via the same channel resulting in the receiver becoming confused.

Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

2.2

Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate 3 of the following types and sources of internal noise found in electronic systems .

(a) Thermal Noise Thermal noise is also known as White Noise. Circuits naturally heat up during operation, due to the current flowing through them. As the circuit gets warmer, signals from the circuit begin to differ than when the circuit was cold. This is the reason why there are operating parameters for the various ICs on their datasheets, due to the fluctuations of its outputs. As the circuit heats up the heat generated can affect other components in the circuit, causing them to malfunction or alter their output signal. Circuits which are designed to receive very low levels of signal, such as radio telescopes intercepting signals from stars, use front end circuits which are cooled to a very low temperature. This ensures that the amount of thermal noise is kept to an absolute minimum. Thermal noise is always in resistors, where the device lowers current and voltage by removing some of the energy and dissipating it as heat energy.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(b)

Shot Noise Understanding Shot Noise is important in Electronics, Telecommunications and fundamental Physics. It is where a small amount of electrons that carry energy in an electronic circuit cause a fluctuation in the measurement data. Shot noise is normally only problematic when it comes to small currents in electronic circuits. This is because the magnitude of the noise increases with the average magnitude of the current, however the magnitude of the average signal increases even greater than that, so the stronger the signal the weaker the shot noise becomes.

The above graph is a simulation of an ideal shot noise waveform.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(c) Flicker noise It is a type of electronic noise that is found in the pink spectrum and therefore is referred to as Pink Noise. This type of electronic noise occurs in almost all electronic devices, and is always related to DC, resulting in a variety of effects such as impurities in conductive channels or generation and recombination noise in a transistor because of the base current. With electronic devices, flicker noise forms under low frequency conditions due to higher frequency conditions being over shadowed by white noise. Flicker noise is characterised by the corner frequency fc.

In resistors there are various levels of flicker noise depending on the composition of the resistor. In Carbon Composition Resistors the flicker noise increases the overall noise level, however in Wire-Wound Resistors the flicker noise is much smaller and so doesnt affect it significantly. This is only where the DC levels are high, as when they are low the Thermal Noise will be predominant and therefore the Flicker Noise will be less affected regardless of the type of resistor used.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

2.3

Discuss, using supporting diagrams where appropriate 2 different methods used for noise reduction. Noise occurs in many various forms however the noise reduction techniques are very similar. Screened cable is used in aircraft to prevent wires which are bundled together in a loom, becoming susceptible to cross feed. Screened cable works by having a wire mesh around the cables inside (indicated by the red arrow).

This wire mesh captures all and any of the cross feed and takes it down to ground. In aircraft the wire mesh is connected to the plug which would be mounted on an aluminium mounting and that would be connected to the airframe of the aircraft. By doing this the signal is free to travel through the wire without having the potential of being interrupted by the noise. Screening of cables is extremely important when it comes to wiring sensitive equipment such as computer displays. This is because small amounts of voltage/current fluctuation can result in substantial inaccuracies in the operation of these devices.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Another way to reduce the noise is by ground lifting. This method is commonly used to reduce the affects of mains hum on musical equipment. The hum occurs because of the loop created between the earthing pin and various pieces of equipment. Firstly the piece of equipment that is causing the mains hum needs to be identified, this can be done by disconnecting all of the equipment and then reintroducing it piece by piece. Once established this piece of equipment can be isolated from the other pieces by removing it from the earthed loop. The image to the right is of a Public Announcement System which has a Ground Lift circuit in. When a current is introduced to the shielded section of the cable, the cross feed causes the disturbance in the travelling signal. By increasing the resistance in the shielded part of the cable the current is limited and therefore the problem of the ground loop is nearly eliminated.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Task 3
3.1 (a) Explain and define the following concepts used to describe the effects of noise and its measurement in electronic systems. Signal to Noise Ratio. This is defined as the ratio of a signal power to the noise power corrupting the signal. Signal-to-noise ratio compares the level of a desired signal (such as music) to the level of background noise. The higher the ratio, the less obtrusive the background noise is.

As you can see on the above diagram the Signal Strength is stronger than the Noise Level, so it would be possible to clearly see/hear the signal. This would be shown as a ratio higher than 1:1. If the noise level was higher than the signal strength then the signal would become inaudible and is would be corrupted as it would be unclear. This would be shown as a ration lower than 1:1. If there was a ratio of 1:1 then the noise level would be just as strong as the signal and would result in the signal being difficult to hear/see.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

(b)

Noise figure or factor. This is a measure of degradation of the Signal to Noise Ratio. It can be calculated by: SNRin NF = SNRout The Noise Figure is the ratio of actual output noise compared to the noise that the device itself introduces. This makes it suitable in measuring the performance of radio receivers.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

The above image is a graph which shows the increasing Noise Figure in Decibels in terms of the Noise Temperature in degrees Kelvin. As the temperature reaches an operating temperature of around 17 degrees Celsius the Noise Figure is 3dBs.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

3.2

Explain with supporting diagrams where appropriate how Noise can be categorised using colours. Noise has been categorised into many different colours depending on their characteristics, such as: Black Noise This is the name of the noise that is commonly silent but has occasional spikes.

Blue Noise Has more energy as the frequency increases. It is similar to Pink Noise, where density is proportional to the frequency.

Brown Noise This noise has more energy at lower frequencies and mimics the signal noise produced by Brownian Motion. Brown Noise sounds similar to White Noise to the human ear. Gray Noise This is also similar but not the same as White Noise, however it has been filtered so that the sound level appears constant at all frequencies to the human ear.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Green Noise This is basically Natural Noise, and involves all of the background noises of the world. It is not actually a recognised term. Orange Noise This is a description of a noise which has been stripped of harmonic frequencies. It relates to musical scales. Pink Noise This type of noise is also known as Flicker Noise. It is similar to White Noise however it contains an equal amount of energy in each octave band. Sound Engineers use Pink Noise to see if a system has a flat frequency response. Purple Noise As the frequency increases in Purple Noise there is more energy. It is similar to brown noise, however the power density increases 6dB every octave as the frequency increases. Red Noise This noise is the name given to ambient underwater noise caused from distant sources. White Noise This noise is random and contains an equal amount of energy in all frequency bands. This noise is made up of all audio frequencies. It is used in Electronic Music to create synthesized sounds.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Evaluation
In this assignment I focused on researching various topics of Signals and Noise. I tried to include images to clarify my answers however in some it was difficult to find a relevant image. I find that when explaining something it is often easier with the image. For example in explaining the Thermal Noise I found it harder to explain things as I couldnt find a relevant image for explanation. I found that converting the gain to decibels in the first question was straight forward as we have touched upon this subject in one of last years assignments. The information was also readily available from the notes taken from class. When it came to the research I began to slow up a bit due to the lengthy process of browsing the almost unlimited pages of the internet.

Conclusion
I found this assignment tested my existing knowledge of Signals and Noise as well as expanding it to a broader range of categories. I struggled to find information from internet sources for Switching/Contact Noise for some time, however eventually managed to find relevant information required for this assignment. I think I can remember touching on different types of noise which exist in previous years at college, however never delved deeper than general discussion. I have been pushed towards researching new information building on these techniques and now realise that there is much more information available than just on the first page of Google. Datasheets provide a good source of information for descriptions of components, which are included in circuits that I have never seen before, so I was able to understand how they work. Overall I have learned a lot from this research and assignment and am looking forward to the next one.

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Brendan Burr

BTEC Higher National Certificate in Electronics

Investigate Signals and Noise

Bibliography
Through guidance from my lecturer, the following text books, catalogues and websites I was able to complete this assignment: Books BTEC National Engineering (Mike Tooley & Lloyd Dingle) ISBN: 978-0-7506-8521-4 Success in Electronics (Tom Duncan & John Murray) ISBN: 0-7195-4015-1 Higher Engineering Mathematics (John Bird) ISBN: 0-7506-8152-7 Catalogues N/A Websites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains_hum http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/noise/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise_(electronics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_noise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_noise http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosstalk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-stop_filter http://www.datacottage.com/nch/images/next.gif http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-switching-regulator.htm http://www.tapr.org/images/dsp4.figure_5.jpg http://scien.stanford.edu/class/psych221/projects/05/gregng/fig-var-simshotnoise.png http://www.cisco.com/en/US/i/100001-200000/110001-120000/119001120000/119129.jpg http://www.microwaves101.com/encyclopedia/images/Noise %20figure/noisetemperature.jpg

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