Chapter 9 / 9.6 / 9.6.6

9.6.6 What Determines How Sensitive A Radio Receiver Is?

Discover what limits the weakest signal a receiver can detect. Learn about thermal noise, noise figure, low-noise amplifiers, receiver sensitivity, dynamic range, and why the first amplifier is so important.

1. What Is Receiver Sensitivity?
2. Why Is High Sensitivity Important?
3. What Limits Receiver Sensitivity?
4. What Is Thermal Noise?
5. Why Is Thermal Noise Often Expressed as –174 dBm/Hz?
6. Why Does Bandwidth Affect Noise?
7. What Is the Noise Floor?
8. What Is Noise Figure?
9. Why Is the First Amplifier So Important?
10. What Is a Low-Noise Amplifier?
11. Why Are Satellite LNAs Mounted Near the Antenna?
12. Why Are Some Receivers Cooled?
13. What Is Signal-to-Noise Ratio?
14. What Is Dynamic Range?
15. Why Can Strong Signals Be a Problem?
16. What Is Receiver Blocking?
17. What Is Intermodulation?
18. Can Digital Signal Processing Improve Sensitivity?
19. Where Is High Receiver Sensitivity Most Important?
20. Why Is Receiver Sensitivity Important?

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