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Signal noise

 

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Signal noise


 
 

In scienceScience

Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of knowledge attained by verifiable means....
, and especially in physicsPhysics

Physics , the most fundamental physical science, is concerned with the underlying principles of the natural world....
 and telecommunicationTelecommunication

Telecommunication is the transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication....
, noise is fluctuations in and the addition of external factors to the stream of target information (signal) being received at a detector. In communications, it may be deliberate as for instance jammingFacts About Jamming

Jamming may mean:*Techniques to limit the effectiveness of an opponent's communications and/or detection equipment.*Jamming...
 of a radio or TV signal, but in most cases it is assumed to be merely undesired interference with intended operations. Natural and deliberate noise sources can provide both or either of random interference or patterned interference. Only the latter can be cancelled effectively in analog systems; however, digital systems are usually constructed in such a way that their quantizedQuantization (signal processing)

In digital signal processing, quantization is the process of approximating a continuous range of values by a relatively-smal...
 signals can be reconstructed perfectly, as long as the noise level remains below a defined maximum, which varies from application to application.

More specifically, in physics, the term noise has the following meanings:
  1. An undesired disturbance within the frequencyFrequency

    Frequency is the measurement of the number of times that a repeated event occurs per unit of time....
     bandBand (radio)

    A band is a small section of the spectrum of radio communication frequencies, in which channels are usually used or set asid...
     of interest; the summation of unwanted or disturbing energy introduced into a communications systemCommunications system

    In telecommunication, a communications system is a collection of individual communications networks, transmission systems, r...
     from man-made and natural sources.
  2. A disturbance that affects a signal and that may distort the informationInformation

    Information as a concept bears a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings....
     carried by the signal.
  3. Random variations of one or more characteristics of any entity such as voltage, current, or dataData

    In general, data consists of propositions that reflect reality....
    .
  4. A random signal of known statistical properties of amplitude, distribution, and spectral densitySpectral density

    In applied mathematics and physics, the spectral density, power spectral density, or energy spectral density is ...
    .
  5. Loosely, any disturbance tending to interfere with the normal operationOperation

    Operation may refer to:* Surgery operation....
     of a device or system.


Noise and what can be done about it has long been studied. Claude Shannon established information theoryInformation theory

Information theory is a discipline in applied mathematics involving the quantification of data with the goal of enabling as ...
 and in so doing clarified the essential nature of noise and the limits it places on the operation of electronic equipment.

In some cases a little noise may be considered advantageous, allowing a ditherDither

Dither is a form of noise, or 'erroneous' signal or data which is added to sample data for the purpose of minimizing quantiz...
ed representation of signals below the minimum strength, or between two quantization levels. This is especially true for signals intended for human appreciation, since the brain seems to expect signals to contain a degree of noise. See, for example

See also

  • Electronic noiseElectronic noise Overview

    Electronic noise is an unwanted signal characteristic of all electronic circuits....
  • Colors of noiseColors of noise

    Many of these definitions assume a signal with components at all frequencies, with a spectral density per unit of bandwidth propor...
  • Signal-to-noise ratioSignal-to-noise ratio

    Signal-to-noise ratio is an electrical engineering concept defined as the ratio of a given transmitted signal to the backgr...
  • Electromagnetic interferenceElectromagnetic interference Summary

    Radio Frequency Interference is electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by electrical circuits carrying rapidly changing ...
  • Noise levelNoise level

    In telecommunication, noise level is the noise power, usually relative to a reference....
  • Noise powerNoise power

    In telecommunication, the term noise power has the following meanings:...
  • Noise-equivalent powerNoise-equivalent power

    Noise-equivalent power is the radiant power that produces a signal-to-noise ratio of unity at the output of a given optical...
  • Phase noisePhase noise

    In an oscillator, phase noise is rapid, short-term, random fluctuations in the phase of a wave, caused by time domain instab...
  • List of noise topicsList of noise topics

    This is a list of noise topics. ...
  • Audio system measurementsAudio system measurements

    Audio system measurements are made for several purposes....