Introduction-Classification of Noise-Voltage and

current models of a noisy resistor-Addition of noise due

to several sources-Addition of noise due to several
amplifiers in cascade-Spectral densities-Noise in
Reactive Circuits-Calculation of thermal Noise for single
and multiple sources-S/N Ratio-Noise Figure-
calculation-Noise Figure from Equivalent Noise
Resistance-Experimental determination of Noise Figure-
Noise Temperature-Noise equivalent Bandwidth
Signal transmitted from one point to another is classified as having two parts
( i) desirable or signal ( ii) undesirable or noise
Magnitude of the noise is directly related to the ability to recover the original signal
without error.

The grassy looking squiggles superimposed on the information signal ( digital

information signal or analog sine wave ) is the electrical noise which contains a
multitude of frequencies and amplitudes that can interfere with the actual signal
Correlated Noise : This implies that there is a relationship between signal and noise
which means this noise exists only when the signal is present
Uncorrelated Noise : This is present irrespective of whether the signal is present or not
Uncorrelated Noise is divided into (i) External and (ii) Internal
External Noise : This is noise generated outside of the device and has sources
from atmosphere, extraterrestrial and man-made
 Atmospheric Noise : Naturally occurring electrical disturbances that originate
in earth’s atmosphere --static electricity as familiar sputtering, crackling often
heard from a speaker in absence of a signal.
 Lightening where static electricity in the form of impulses spread energy
throughout a wide range of frequencies, whose energy magnitude is inversely
proportional to frequency
 At frequencies > 30 MHz atmospheric noise is not important.
Extraterrestrial Noise : Originate as electrical signals outside earth’s atmosphere
and is called as deep space noise .. For eg from milky way, other galaxies
Solar noise : Generated directly from sun’s heat that include (a) quiet condition
when a relatively constant radiation intensity exists and (b) solar flare ups or
sunspot activity that follows a 11 years cycle
Cosmic Noise : radiated from large hot bodies like the stars, noise from quasars
and pulsars
Man-Made Noise/ Industrial Noise : Make and break process in current circuits
such as electric motors, welding machines, ignition systems switching gears
etc
Man made noise also contains a wide range of frequencies that are propagated
through space in the same manner as radio waves.
 Man-Made Noise/ Industrial Noise : Make and break process in current
circuits such as electric motors, welding machines, ignition systems
switching gears etc
Man made noise also contains a wide range of frequencies that are
propagated through space in the same manner as radio waves.

Internal Noise : Electrical interference generated within a device or a circuit,

 Shot noise
 Partition noise
 Low frequency or flicker noise
 Thermal noise
 High frequency or transit time noise
  Integral part of the fundamental nature of the material used for making the
electronic equipment
 Can be eliminated by proper design of circuits and equipment
 Shot Noise :
 It is produced in all amplifying devices and not in all active devices
 It is produced due to the variations of the arrival times of the electrons (
holes) at the electrodes of the amplifying device
 It appears as a random noise current superimposed on the output.
 Has a uniform spectral density as thermal noise
 The mean square root shot noise current for a diode is given as
 I n 2 =2 (I+2Io) q B amp 2
 where I= direct current across the junction ( in amps)
 Io= reverse saturation current
 B= effective bandwidth in Hz.
 For amplifying devices , the shot noise is
(i) Inversly proportional to the transconductance of the device
(ii)Directly proportional to output current
 Partition Noise : Generated when the current gets divided between two or more
paths.
 Generated due to the random fluctuations in the division.
 Partition noise is more in a transistor than a diode Thus GaAs FET draws almost
zero gate bias current thus reducing the partition current.
 Low frequency or flicker noise :Appears at frequencies below a few kHz
 Also called as (1/f) noise
 The fluctuations in the carrier density in semiconductors will cause fluctuations in
the materiel conductivity. This will produce a fluctuation drop when dc current
flows through the device. And the voltage so produced is called flicker voltage
 And (flicke r voltage ) 2 is proportional to ( direct current) 2
As a silicon crystal reaches an end at the
interface many dangling bonds appear and give
rise to extra energy states. As charge carriers
move at the interface some are randomly
trapped and later released by such energy states
introducing flicker noise in drain current .
Several additional mechanisms can generate
flicker noise
 Thermal Noise :It is random and continuous and present at all frequencies. Hence
it is most significant of all noise sources.
 The random motion of the free electrons in a conductor is due to the
recieved thermal energy.
 At any given point in time it is possible that there are excessive number of
electrons at one end of the conductor than at the other end.
 The average resulting from this non uniform distribution is zero but the non
zero average power is not zero

The average thermal noise power is P n=kTB

where B= bandwidth of the noise spectrum
and T is the temperature in K.
A conductor operated at a temperature T
can work as generator of energy.
The thermal noise power is proportional to
the noise bandwidth and conductor
temperature
Excess Resistor Noise : In addition to frequency independent noise (thermal
/white noise resistors also generate frequency dependent noise referred to as
excess noise
Burst or Popcorn Noise : Produced by semiconductors and is proportional to
(1/f) 2
Equivalent Circuits for Thermal Noise : The noise source that is generating an
equivalent noise energy is represented by an equivalent voltage or a current

generator that will represent the noise

source . For the voltage generator circuit
let us assume that the rms source voltage
is Es. Then the maximum power is
delivered when R L= R S

P L , Max = E s2/4R s

Applying the same logic for the above noise voltage generator we get
P n 2= E n 2/ 4R , where E n is the RMS noise voltage
Comparing with P n=kTB , we get En=√ 4kTBR. Hence a conductor with resistance R
which generates a voltage E n can be represented as a voltage source E n with internal
resistance R
Eq Current Generator : The rms noise current is given by
In= √4GkTB : G=(1/R) is the conductance
 High Frequency or Transit Time Noise : The effect takes place
when the time for an electron to travel from the emitter to
the collector becomes comparable to the period of the signal
to be amplified - observed at very high frequencies
 Some of the carriers may diffuse back to the emitter.
 An input admittance is generated and the conductance of

which increases with frequency.

 This results in the appearance of output current whose

fluctuations increase with frequency at the rate of 6dB /octave

Cals of thermal Noise: Resistors act as a source of thermal noise:
For two resistances in series
Resistors in parallel
 Resistors in parallel :

 The effective parallel value of conductance Gp= G1+G2.

 The noise current generated is In2 = 4Gp kT B =4 G 1kTB +4
G2kTB
 In2=In12+In22
 and In2=In1 2 + In2 . For n resistors in parallel,
 In2 = 4 ( G1 + G2 .. Gn ) kTB
 En 2=4Rp kTB where Rp is the parallel combination of resistors
 White noise: The PSD of white noise is uniform over all
frequencies
Power spectral density of white noise has a Guassian
shape

Sn(f)=No/2 .
 This equation shows that the spectral density of white noise is independent of
frequency.
 As N o is constant the pad is uniform over the entire frequency range including the
positive as well as the negative frequencies.
 Also N o =kT o where T o is equivalent noise temperature of the system.
Derive and plot the auto correlation function of a white Guassian noise which has a
power spectral density of N o /2
We know that the power spectral density and auto correlation function form a Fourier
transform pair.

Therefore for the white noise the auto correlation function R (τ) is obtained as

This is the auto correlation and its plot is shown at the side,
Noise Bandwidth : Consider BN is the bandwidth of the ideal filter .
 Let it be adjusted such that the noise output power of the ideal

filter is exactly equal to the noise output power of the real RC

filter.
 Then BN is called as the noise bandwidth of the real filter
 Thus the noise bandwidth B N may be defined as the
bandwidth of an ideal (rectangular ) filter which passes the
same power as does the ideal filter
 Equivalent Noise Resistance : It is represented by a fictitious
resistance R N.
 The resistance R N is assumed to generate the noise at room

temperature which is equivalent to the noise generated by the

device.
 RN is called as the equivalent noise resistance and the device
is assumed to be noiseless. and is part of manufacturer data.
The equivalent mean sqaure thermal noise voltage which appears at the
input of the amplifier

 R n , R i are in series with each other.

 Amplifier is assumed to be noiseless
 Rn is not the the real resistance . Hence the actual input resistance is not
changed
Noise Factor, Noise Figure and Equivalent
Noise Temperature
Dynamic signal representation
 Consider a typical receiver block diagram shown below, with example
 In order to determine the signal to noise ratio at the input, the overall
receiver noise figure or noise temperature must be determined.
 In order to do this all the noise must be referred to the same point in the receiver,
for example toA, the feeder input or B, the input to the first amplifier.
The noise of a system or network can be defined in three
different but related ways:
Noise factor (Fn),
 Noise figure (NF) and
 Equivalent noise temperature
 Cascade circuits

 The terms noise factor and noise figure are interchangeably used in RF and microwave
• noise factor (Fn),
field . • noise figure (NF) and
 It defines how m•uecqhuivnaoleisnetniosisaedtdemedpebraytuarneyamplifier while amplifying the signal.
 Most commonly used as specification for a LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) (used mostly in
receivers. It works to boost the signal above noise floor for additional processing
 Its noise figure directly limits the sensitivity of the receiver.
 In receivers it is quite common to have several multiplying stages connected in
cascade eg RF amplifier and a mixer stages.
 Let's assume that we have an imaginary device with Gain = 1 meaning it is not amplifying
anything coming into the device and it is completely protected from any external noise source

 Consider the noise floor

 We would notice big difference between the
noise floor of input and the noise floor of output.
 Since we assume that this is an ideal device which
is completely protected from external noise, the
only possibility we can think of is that the noise is
generated by the DUT itself.
 Noise Figure indicates the amount of this kind of
internal noise.
  But if the Gain is not 1 (greater than 1), just looking at the noise level difference we don't know whether
the increased noise level is due to the amplification or internal generation.
 In this case, the better way to estimate the internal noise generation is to compare SNR as shown
below.
 In receivers it is quite common to have several
multiplying stages connected in cascade for eg
RF amplifier and a mixer stages.
 We attempt to find the effect of such combination
on receiver noise

 We consider the two stage amplifier shown in Fig 6.9.

 Let the gain of the two stages be A 1 and A 2 respectively.
 Let R 1 and R 2 be the total input noise resistances of the
first and second stage respectively. Let R 3 be the output resistance .
 The RMS noise voltage at the out put due to R3 is given by :
V n3 = Ѵ 4kTBR 3 Eq (6.20)
 It may appear logical to combine all the noise resistances at the input, calculate their
noise voltage, multiply it by the gain of the first stage and add this voltage to the one
generated at the input of the second stage.
 The process might then be continued, and the noise voltage at the output, due to all
the intervening noise sources, would be found.
 Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with such a procedure. The result is useless
because the argument assumed that it is important to find the total output noise
voltage, whereas the important thing is to find the equivalent input noise voltage.
 It is better to go one step further and find an equivalent resistance for such an input
voltage, i.e., the equivalent noise resistance for the whole receiver.
 This is the resistance that will produce the same random noise at the output of the
receiver as does the actual receiver, so that we have succeeded in replacing an
actual receiver amplifier by an ideal noiseless one with an equivalent noise
resistance R eq located across its input.
 This greatly simplifies subsequent calculations, gives a good figure for comparison with
other receivers, and permits a quick calculation of the'lowest input signal which this
receiver may amplify without drowning it with noise.
  The rms noise voltage Vn3 is produced due to the rms noise source V’ n3 at the input of the
second stage such that

V n3 = A 2 X V’ n3 (6.2) a

V ‘ n3 = V n3 / A 2 (6.2 ) b

 We can assume that the rms noise voltage V ’n3 is generated by another resistor
R’ 3 at the input of the second stage with R3 absent on the output side
 V ‘ n3 = √ 4kTB R 3‘

V ‘ n3 =(Vn3/A2) = (√4kTBR 3 )/A 2

Comparing the above two equations we get

R 3 ‘= (R 3 ) /A 2 2

 This equation shows that when the noise resistance is to be transferred from the
output of a stage to its input it must be divided by square of the voltage gain of
the stage.
 The equivalent noise resistance at the input of the second stage is

R’eq is transfered to the input of the first stage to get

 Hence the equivalent noise resistance at the input of the first stage is

 The same concept can be extended to n number of stage connected in cascade

 Signal to Noise ratio : It is important in communications to ensure that the
noise at the point under consideration is not excessively large.

Therefore (S/N) = P S /Pn (6.29 )

where P S = Signal power ,

P n = Noise power at the same point
 Normally expressed in dB typical values range from 10 to 90dB.
 Better is the system performance in noisy conditions when the SNR is high. In

It is often difficult to measure SNR . Instead one measures (S+N)/N

This is another variation of SNR. SINAD stands for signal noise and
distortion and it is defined as
SINAD = (S+N+D)/(N+D)
Where S=Signal, N= Noise and D= Distortion
SINAD is generally used in the specifications of the FM receiver

 Signal to Noise Ratio of an Amplifier :

 Consider the equivalent circuit of the amplifier shown in the next slide
 First remove the amplifier and calculate the open circuit voltage between
points A , B.
 This is the Thevenin voltage V oc (Vth) and is denoted by V s as shown
below
  Now we complete the equivalent circuit in Fig 6.12(b) by taking the noise
equivalent resistance Rn and the associated noise voltage outside the
amplifier
 The signal to noise ratio at the input is given by
 SNR i =(S i /N i )

Where S i = input signal power=Vs 2 and Ni =input noise power =

Vn2 =4kT0 B ( Rp+Rn)
 Therefore SNR 1 = ( V S 2 )/4kT o B (R p + R n)
Since the amplifier is noise less, the SNR at its input and output will be the same . Then
the signal to noise ratio at the amplifier output is
S/N = (V s 2)/(4(R p +R n )kT o B Eq …(6.36)
Where (R p+ Rn) represents the equivalent resistance producing noise at the input of
the amplifier
Noise Factor : It is defined as the ratio in terms of the SNR as below

Eq 6.43

 The SNR is calculated at the room temperature. Hence the noise factor is the
means to measure the amount of noise added and it will always >1. with ideal
value being 1
 If the noise factor F is frequency dependent it is known as spot noise factor which
needs statement of frequency
Noise output power in Termsof F: The available power gain is defined as :
G = (P so/P si )
And hence ----------------------
F= (P no/GP ni )

The noise power at the amplifier output is------------------------------------- P no = FGP ni

and P ni = k To B
P no= F G kT o B
Noise factor in terms of Rn :
The SNR at the output of an amplifer is

where R p = (R s)/(R s +R i )

At the amplifier input (S/N) in = (V s 2)/(4 kT B R P )

Hence the effective noise resistance Rn is not included and so F = (S/N) in/(S/N) out

Substituting the values therefore gives For an ideal F= (R p+ R n )/R p

amplifier the value of F=1

F db = 10 log 10 F
Noise Figure: F expressed in terms of dB is noise

figure : or
 How to improve the Noise Figure : (i) Devices used for amplifier and mixer stages
must be less noisy .. For this purpose diodes and FETs are preferred
 Receivers are operated at low temperatures –eg in satellite low noise receivers
 Use is made of high gain amplifiers
Amplifier Noise contribution in terms of F : Consider the total noise refered to
the input of the amplifier
Noise Temperature:Another way to present noise is by means of equivalent
noise temperature. Used for dealing with UHF, and microwave low noise
antennas, receivers or devices
It is defined as the temperature at which the noisy resistor has to be maintained
so that by connecting this resistor to the input of a noiseless version of the
system , it will produce the same amount of noise power at the system output as
produced by the actual system
 Equivalent Noise Temperature T eq at the amplifier Input
 Noise at the input of the amplifier input is given by eq(6.63) as P na = (F-1)k T o B
This is the noise contributed by the amplifier. This noise power can be
alternatively represented by some fictitious temperature T eq such that
kT eq B= (F-1)k T o B (6.64)
Thus the equivalent noise temperature of the amplifier is given by
T eq =(F-1) T o
This equation shows that T eq is just an alternative measure of F (6.65)
 Noise Factor of Amplifiers in
Cascade
 Fig 6.17 shows two amplifiers connected in cascade
 Let the power gains of the two amplifiers be G 1 and G 2 respectively and let their noise factors be F1 and F 2 .
respectively
(i) The total noise power at the input of the first amplifier is given as under:
P ni (tot) =F1 k T o B (6.66)
(ii) The total noise power at the output of amplifier 1 will be the addition of two terms . Hence noise input to
amplifier 2 =G 1F 1 k T o B + (F 2-1)k To B (6.67)
 The first term is the amplified noise power ( by G1) and the second is the noise contributed by
the second amplifier
 The noise power at the output of the second amplifier is G2 times the input noise power to its
input
G 1F 1 k T o B + (F 2-1)k To B
G2 x ( Noise input to amplifier 2)
P no = G 1 G 2 F 1 kT o B + (F 2 -1)G 2 kT o B ---------------------eq 6.68
Overall gain of the cascade connection is given by :
G =G1 G2 ---------------------------- eq 6.69
Overall noise factor F is defined as F= ( P no )/ (G 1 G 2 P ni ) ----------------- eq 6.70

and is = Noise power supplied by the input source =kT oB

Substituting the values of P ni and Pno

 The first stage is the most important stage in deciding the overall noise
factor.
 This is because the terms G1, G2,…..are in the denominator and they
become negligible small as compared to the first term.
Why Noise Temperature?
 The reason we use noise temperature is because it allows us an
easy way to combine the effects of an antenna and a receiver
together.
 Antennas are responsible for receiving signals and passing them
to a radio receiver where they can be amplified and demodulated.
 Antennas also receive noise from the environment they are in as
part of the received signal.
 Antenna temperature defines the amount of noise that can be
measured at an antenna’s terminals.
 Antenna temperature is not a physical property of the antenna
itself, but rather, a function of the antenna’s design and the
environment it is installed in.
Typical values of noise temperature, noise figure and gain for various amplifiers and attenuators
are given below:
 The types of noises in a BJT are :
Thermal Noise : Generated because of bulk or extrinsic resistance of
the electrodes . Only the extrinsic base resistance produces a
significant portion of it.
 Bias Currents : Produce shot noise and partition noise
 Flicker and burst noise are associated with base current
In JFETs thermal noise is produced due to resistance of the source to
drain and shot noise is due to gate leakage current
Noise figure is constant and also minimum from ω 1 to
ω 2.
Hence this is the advisable region for transistor usage
Noise in Reactive elements, NOISE FIGURE
Measurement Methods in devices and DUT
The Friis formula is given by F= F 1 + ((F 2 -1)/G 1) + (F 2 -1)/G1 G2 )) ----------eq (6.74)

(ii) Subtracting 1 from both the sides we get

(F-1 ) = ( F 1 -1) + ((F2-1 )/G 1) + (F3-1 )/G 1 G2 ) +… -----------eq (6.75)

 Noise Factor of a Lossy Network :
 A connecting cable is an example of a lossy network. When a signal source is
matched through such a lossy network the signal power reduces due to the
insertion loss of the network.
 However the output noise remains constant at kTB because the noise power
does not depend on the source resistance . Thus the network attenuates the
source noise and add its own noise.
 This reduces the SNR at the output.
 The noise factor of a such a network is then given as
This is because the power gain of a lossy network is (1/L). Hence when a lossy
network such as connecting cable is connected to an amplifier as shown in Fig (a)
, the noise factor of the overall combination will then be as shown above
 F= F nw + (F s -1)/G nw
where the F nw is the Noise Factor of the lossy network
F s = Noise Factor of the amplifier
G nw = Gain of the lossy network
But G nw = (1/L) and F nw = L

Hence F= L + (F a -1) L

If the lossy network is connected after the amplifier as shown in Fig 6.19 (b) then the overall noise
figure at the input is given by,

F = F a +(F nw -1)/G a eq (6.80)

But F nw = L
Therefore F= Fa + (L-1) / Ga eq (6.81)
In this expression we neglect the second term if the amplifier power gain Ga is very large .

Then F= Fa eq (6.82)
This means that the overall noise factor is equal to the noise factor of the high gain amplifier
 NOISE IN REACTIVE CIRCUITS
Basic Concepts :
In communication circuits , we come across many circuits which contain reactive components such
As inductors and capacitors . These components are used to form the tuned circuits.
Let us consider the figure below in which a resistance R connected in parallel with a parallel tuned circuit.
(i) An ideal tuned circuit is theoretically noiseless. Hence it should not have any effect on the noise generated by
the resistor R of fig 6.28
(ii) But the tuned circuit is a frequency selective network . Therefore it will attenuate both the signal and noise
in the same proportion above and below the resonant frequency
(iii) In other words the ideal tuned circuit limits the bandwidth of the noise source by attenuating noise outside
of the passband.
(iv) Consider the practical tuned circuit in Fig 6.29. The inductor L possesses a small resistance Rs which
produces noise. Hence the practical tuned circuit is not noiseless.
Noise Voltage across the capacitor
(i) Let us consider fig below to calculate
the noise voltage across C ., i.e -atX the
Z= R s +j (X L C)
input of amplifier.
At resonance frequencyTheX L -= noise current
X C and so I n =V n/R s
flowing in RLC circuit is given by
The noise voltage across C is given by , V nc = I n
I n= V n/Z where Vn = Noise voltage
X C= V n X C/R s But X C = Q Rs at resonance

Therefore V nc = ( V n xQ R s / R s) = V n Q
Taking the square of both sides we get
V 2nc = Q 2 V n2 = Q 2 [4kTB Rs]
But √R p = Q 2 R s
where R p= equivalent parallel resistance at resonance

Hence V 2 nc = 4kTBR p

V 2nc = Q 2 V n2 = Q 2 [4kTB Rs]

The set up for measuring noise figure is
shown.
Here Rs is the source resistance of the
amplifier .
 The diode is operated in the temperature
limited region so that its dynamic
resistance is infinite
 Disconnect the diode and measure
the mean square value of output
noise voltage Vno.
 Let N TO be the total noise output
Now connect the diode and it generates a shot noise current having a power
spectral density of qI d , where Id is the dc current through the diode
 Then we adjust V d till the mean square value of the output noise is 2NTO and
note the diode current Id
 The noise figure is given as

F = (q I d R s)/2 kT
 Noise Figure and Noise Factor
Noise Figure (NF) is sometimes referred to as Noise Factor (F). The relationship is simply:
NF = 10 * log10 (F)

Category MAXIM Products Noise Figure* Applications Operating Frequency SystemGain

LNA MAX2640 0.9dB Cellular, ISM 400MHz ~ 1500MHz 15.1dB

HG: 2.3dB WLL 3.4GHz ~ 3.8GHz HG: 14.4dB

LNA MAX2645
LG: 15.5dB WLL 3.4GHz ~ 3.8GHz LG: -9.7dB

Mixer MAX2684 13.6dB LMDS, WLL 3.4GHz ~ 3.8GHz 1dB

Mixer MAX9982 12dB Cellular, GSM 825MHz ~ 915MHz 2.0dB

Receiver System MAX2700 3.5dB ~ 19dB PCS, WLL 1.8GHz ~ 2.5GHz < 80dB

HG = High Gain Mode, LG = Low Gain Mode

 Measurement methods vary for different applications.
 As shown in the table above, some applications have high gain and low noise figure (Low Noise Amplifiers
under HG mode), some have low gain and high noise figure (mixers and LNAs under LG mode), some have
very high gain and wide range of noise figure (receiver systems).
Methods to Measure Noise Figure :
These include (a) Using NF Meter (b) Gain Method (c) Y-Factor Method
Using NF Meter :
Every noise source has an associated parameter termed Excess Noise Ratio, or ENR.
Excess Noise Ratio, or ENR
 ENR is the power level difference between hot and cold states, compared to the thermal
equilibrium noise power at the standard reference temperature, To (290K).
 The noise source is powered ON and provides “hot” noise related to its ENR.
 The noise source is powered OFF, providing a 50-ohm “cold” termination to the input of the DUT (
Device Under Test).
 At room temperature Noise Figure (NF) is defined (in dB) as

where Te is the noise temperature of the DUT.

 A mixer is needed to convert the input RF frequencies to IF ( intermediate frequencies)

 In case a mixer is not needed just connect the IF OUT cable to the noise source and calibrate
 ENR is frequently used to denote the noise that a calibrated noise source delivers to the DUT
 ,

The ENR needs to be entered into the Noise Figure Analyzer corresponding to
the frequency of measurement. Normally, the ENR table is prominently
displayed on the Noise Source.
.Calibration procedure: First the equipment needs to be calibrated.
The calibration procedure normally involves inputting the ENR (Excess Noise
Ratio) as given on the Noise Source in to the Noise Figure Analyzer at the desired
frequency range.
This will establish the base level against which the DUT noise figure will be
measured
Measurement of Noise Figure and Gain:
 The following figure (b) shows the diagram with
required connections with DUT.
 Once the test equipment is calibrated for Noise
Figure, (and Gain, as it is normally measured along
with the Noise Figure) by simply connecting the DUT
in to the calibrated set up as below will display the
Gain and Noise Figure of the DUT
 Factors that you need to consider when choosing
equipment for Noise Figure measurement
 Expected Noise Figure:
 NF Analyzer is suitable to measure Noise Figure
when the value is small (say less than 10dB typical).
If you intend to measure very high value or very
low value (say less than 0.05dB), you may need to
consult the manufacturer for suitability of the
equipment
Due to the limitations of the DUT/NF Analyzer, one may need to use
external mixer for measuring NF.
DUT Connectors: Some times, the DUT may have different connectors,
such as waveguide. If so, you may need to procure appropriate waveguide
to co-axial adapter. Most of the NF Analyzers use only co-axial connector
for interconnectivity.
In view of its widespread applicability, noise figure is a particularly
important parameter for a wide variety of radio communications systems
from fixed or mobile radio communications systems, two way radio
communications systems, and satellite radio communications systems.
Noise Figure Measurements – Y-Factor Method

The Noise Figure and Gain measurements could be made

using an ON/OFF noise source and simple power-ratio
measurements
Using the Y-factor method, Noise Figure (in dB) is then
equal to
where Y is the ratio of the output power of the DUT with
the noise source in an ON state, to the output power of
the DUT with the noise source in an OFF state
 4.Gain Measurement: Normally, you measure gain along with NF. Ensure
that the NF Analyzer is capable of measuring expected range of DUT Gain
 . Advantages and disadvantages of this method:
 Simple to measure Noise Figure and Gain
 Accurate for small NF measurements
NF could be measured across a wide range of frequencies with external
mixers.

https://youtu.be/4SB4YHdqRSQ ---video link for Y-factor method