The decibel is a unit of measurement used to express the ratio of one value of a power or field quantity to another on a logarithmic scale, the logarithmic quantity being called the power level or field level, respectively. It can be used to express a change in value or an absolute value. In the latter case, it expresses the ratio of a value to a fixed reference value; when used in this way, a suffix that indicates the reference value is often appended to the decibel symbol. For example, if the reference value is 1 volt, then the suffix is "V", and if the reference value is one milliwatt, then the suffix is "m".
A weighting filter is used to emphasize or suppress some aspects of a phenomenon compared to others, for measurement or other purposes.
In a noise-measuring set, flat weighting is a noise weighting based on an amplitude-frequency characteristic that is flat over a frequency range that must be stated.
In electronics, noise temperature is one way of expressing the level of available noise power introduced by a component or source. The power spectral density of the noise is expressed in terms of the temperature that would produce that level of Johnson–Nyquist noise, thus:
Signal-to-noise ratio is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. SNR is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power, often expressed in decibels. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise.
In telecommunication and radio communication, spread-spectrum techniques are methods by which a signal generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the frequency domain, resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth. These techniques are used for a variety of reasons, including the establishment of secure communications, increasing resistance to natural interference, noise and jamming, to prevent detection, and to limit power flux density.
In information theory, the Shannon–Hartley theorem tells the maximum rate at which information can be transmitted over a communications channel of a specified bandwidth in the presence of noise. It is an application of the noisy-channel coding theorem to the archetypal case of a continuous-time analog communications channel subject to Gaussian noise. The theorem establishes Shannon's channel capacity for such a communication link, a bound on the maximum amount of error-free information per time unit that can be transmitted with a specified bandwidth in the presence of the noise interference, assuming that the signal power is bounded, and that the Gaussian noise process is characterized by a known power or power spectral density. The law is named after Claude Shannon and Ralph Hartley.
A band-pass filter, also bandpass filter or BPF, is a device that passes frequencies within a certain range and rejects (attenuates) frequencies outside that range.
A low-noise amplifier (LNA) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies a very low-power signal without significantly degrading its signal-to-noise ratio. A typical amplifier increases the power of both the signal and the noise present at its input, whereas LNAs are designed to amplify a signal while minimizing additional noise. Designers can minimize additional noise by using low-noise components, operating points, and circuit topologies. Minimizing additional noise must balance with other goals such as power gain and impedance matching.
Sound quality is typically an assessment of the accuracy, fidelity, or intelligibility of audio output from an electronic device. Quality can be measured objectively, such as when tools are used to gauge the accuracy with which the device reproduces an original sound; or it can be measured subjectively, such as when human listeners respond to the sound or gauge its perceived similarity to another sound.
A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals. The input signal that a spectrum analyzer measures is electrical; however, spectral compositions of other signals, such as acoustic pressure waves and optical light waves, can be considered through the use of an appropriate transducer. Optical spectrum analyzers also exist, which use direct optical techniques such as a monochromator to make measurements.
The sensitivity of an electronic device, such as a communications system receiver, or detection device, such as a PIN diode, is the minimum magnitude of input signal required to produce a specified output signal having a specified signal-to-noise ratio, or other specified criteria.
An equal-loudness contour is a measure of sound pressure, over the frequency spectrum, for which a listener perceives a constant loudness when presented with pure steady tones. The unit of measurement for loudness levels is the phon, and is arrived at by reference to equal-loudness contours. By definition, two sine waves of differing frequencies are said to have equal-loudness level measured in phons if they are perceived as equally loud by the average young person without significant hearing impairment.
A low-probability-of-intercept radar (LPIR) is a radar employing measures to avoid detection by passive radar detection equipment while it is searching for a target or engaged in target tracking. This characteristic is desirable in a radar because it allows finding and tracking an opponent without alerting them to the radar's presence. This also protects the radar installation from anti-radiation missiles (ARM).
Network performance refers to measures of service quality of a network as seen by the customer.
The 80 meter or 3.5 MHz band is a band of radio frequencies allocated for amateur radio use, from 3.5 to 4.0 MHz in IARU Region 2, and generally 3.5 to 3.8 or 3.9 MHz in Regions 1 and 3 respectively. The upper portion of the band, which is usually used for phone (voice), is sometimes referred to as 75 meters. In Europe 75m is a shortwave broadcast band, with a number of national radio services operating between 3.9 & 4.0 MHz.
Audio noise measurement is carried out to assess the quality of audio equipment, such as is used in recording studios, broadcast engineering, and in-home high fidelity.
Antenna gain-to-noise-temperature (G/T) is a figure of merit in the characterization of antenna performance, where G is the antenna gain in decibels at the receive frequency, and T is the equivalent noise temperature of the receiving system in kelvins. The receiving system noise temperature is the summation of the antenna noise temperature and the RF chain noise temperature from the antenna terminals to the receiver output.
A minimum detectable signal is a signal at the input of a system whose power produces a signal-to-noise ratio of m at the output. In practice, m is usually chosen to be greater than unity. In some literature, the name sensitivity is used for this concept.
The term Excess Noise Ratio is primarily used in connection with noise diodes which are a common method of measuring the noise performance of an amplifier. The measurement technique is described in detail in application notes such as Keysight Application note 57-2 "Noise Figure Measurement Accuracy - The Y-Factor method." By using a noise diode, the output noise of the amplifier is measured using two input noise levels and by measuring the output noise factor the noise figure of the amplifier can be determined without having to measure the amplifier gain.
