Engineering:Carrier-to-noise-density ratio

In satellite communications, carrier-to-noise-density ratio (C/N₀) is the ratio of the carrier power C to the noise power density N₀, expressed in dB-Hz. When considering only the receiver as a source of noise, it is called carrier-to-receiver-noise-density ratio.

It determines whether a receiver can lock on to the carrier and if the information encoded in the signal can be retrieved, given the amount of noise present in the received signal. The carrier-to-receiver noise density ratio is usually expressed in dBHz.

The noise power density, N₀=kT, is the receiver noise power per hertz, which can be written in terms of the Boltzmann constant k (in joules per kelvin) and the noise temperature T (in kelvins).

See also

• C/N: carrier-to-noise ratio
• C/I: carrier-to-interference ratio
• E_b/N₀: bit energy to noise density ratio

Further reading

• Measuring GNSS Signal Strength