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AWGN

This document provides an overview of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). It defines noise as an unwanted signal that carries no information and can corrupt a useful signal. Thermal noise occurs in all electronic devices and transmission media due to random electron motion. It has a uniform power spectral density and follows a Gaussian probability distribution, making it additive white Gaussian noise. White noise has a flat power spectral density across all frequencies. Gaussian noise describes the probability density function of a random process, which follows a normal Gaussian distribution centered around a mean value. Additive white Gaussian noise refers to noise that is both white (uniform spectral density) and Gaussian (normal probability distribution).

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SAMI UR REHMAN
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682 views

AWGN

This document provides an overview of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). It defines noise as an unwanted signal that carries no information and can corrupt a useful signal. Thermal noise occurs in all electronic devices and transmission media due to random electron motion. It has a uniform power spectral density and follows a Gaussian probability distribution, making it additive white Gaussian noise. White noise has a flat power spectral density across all frequencies. Gaussian noise describes the probability density function of a random process, which follows a normal Gaussian distribution centered around a mean value. Additive white Gaussian noise refers to noise that is both white (uniform spectral density) and Gaussian (normal probability distribution).

Uploaded by

SAMI UR REHMAN
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A tutorial overview of

ADDITIVE WHITE GUASSIAN NOISE (AWGN)


SAMI UR REHMAN

Defining NOISE in AWGN:
In electrical engineering, pertaining to
communication systems, Noise is basically an
unwanted signal which carries no information
and hence can corrupt our information bearing
signal. Signal to Noise Ratio is matric
commonly used to characterize the ratio of
information to irrelevant data in a signal. In the
nutshell noise is an unwanted disturbances
superimposed on a useful signal, which tends to
obscure its information content. High noise
levels can block, distort, change or interfere with
the meaning of a message in human, animal and
electronic communication. Similarly in
electronic circuits noise is unwanted
perturbation in voltage signal.
Thermal noise is device inherent noise as it
occurs in all transmission media and
communication equipment, including passive
devices. It arises from random electron motion
and is characterized by a uniform distribution of
energy/power over the frequency, plus it also
follows Gaussian distribution and hence can
rightly be called Additive White Gaussian Noise
which is the topic of this paper. Every
equipment element and the transmission medium
itself contribute thermal noise to a
communication system if the temperature of that
element or medium is above absolute zero.
Thermal noise is heavily dependant on
temperature as the more heat generated or
applied, the greater the level of thermal noise.
Intermodulation (IM) noise is the result of the
presence of intermodulation products. Such type
of noise occurs if two signals of different
frequencies pass through a nonlinear device or
medium, the result will contain IM products that
are spurious frequency energy components.
These components may be inside or outside the
frequency band of interest for a particular
device. Crosstalk refers to unwanted coupling
between signal paths.
Defining WHITE NOISE in AWGN:
White Noise is a random process with flat power
spectral density. Power spectral density (PSD)
shows the variation of power of a signal or
random process with frequency. It is also called
energy spectral density, spectral density or
simply spectrum.
White noise in vector domain has to follow the
following two properties:
{ } ( ) ( ) 0
X
t E x t = =
This means mean of the white noise is zero.
{ }
1 2 1 2 1 2
( ) ( ) ( ) ( / 2) ( ) Rxx t t E x t x t No t t o = =
There are two implications that can be extracted
from the second property:
- This autocorellation function suggests
the PSD must have a value of No/2.
- The value of white noise at any pairs of
times is independent or uncorellated.
An extremely important function to calculate
PSD is the WienerKhinchin theorem which
states that PSD of a signal is Fourier transform
of its autocorrelation function (function
calculating similarity of signal/process with
itself).
( ) ( ) ( )
N N
S f Fourier R t =
PSD of White Noise S
N
(f)

is given below
where No represents the noise variation across
frequency.
( )
0
( ) / 2
N
S f N to = +

Figure 1: PSD of white noise
Similarly the auto correlation function of White
Noise is given as:
0
( ) / 2 ( )
N
R N t o t =

Figure 2: Auto correlation function of white
noise
The autocorellation function resembles the dirac
delta function and the Fourier Transform of such
a function is equal to 1. This also implies that
white noise has infinite power at zero. Now
since the PSD is the Fourier Transform of
autocorellation fuction which in white noise is
dirac delta function, the PSD for white noise is
same at all frequncies. We call this noise white
as an analogy to the frequncy spectrum of white
light.
Defining GUASSIAN in AWGN:
In stochastic theory Guassian Noise is the noise
whose Probability Density Function (PSD)
follows Guassian distribution as shown below.
Let z represent any random process or say the
Guassian noise, then its distribution is given by
the following formulae:
2
2
2
1 ( )
( )
2
2
z
z
z
z
f z e

o
to

=
z
o represents the varience and
z
represents the
mean of the random variable.
PSD is a function which shows the likelihood of
a random variable to occur at a given point. In
Guassian distribution this point is the mean of
the function where we have the maximum
likelihood of occurrence of that variable. A
Guassian distribution with mean of zero is called
zero mean Guassian and the one with mean zero
and varience of one is called Normal
distribution. A white noise whose probability
density function (PSD) is Guassian distributed,
is called White Guassian Noise. Since white
noise has a mean of zero it is better to call it zero
mean Guassian. Since white noise and Guassian
noise and two separate concepts but we have
added them together so we sometimes call White
Guassian Noise as Additive White Guassian
Noise.
Excerpt from Wikipedia:
Gaussian noise is properly defined as the
noise with a Gaussian amplitude distribution.
This says nothing of the correlation of the
noise in time or of the spectral density of the
noise. Labeling Gaussian noise as 'white'
describes the correlation of the noise. It is
necessary to use the term "white Gaussian
noise" to be precise. Gaussian noise is
sometimes misunderstood to be white
Gaussian noise, but this is not the case.

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