Noise

An error which is superimposed on top of a true signal. Noise may be random or systematic. Noise can be greatly reduced by transmitting signals digitally instead of in analog form because each piece of information is allowed only discrete values which are spaced farther apart than the contribution due to noise.

Coding theory studies how to encode information efficiently, and error-correcting codes devise methods for transmitting and reconstructing information in the presence of noise.

REFERENCES:

Abbott, D. and Kiss, L. B. (Eds.). Proc. 2nd Internat. Conf. Unsolved Problems of Noise and Fluctuations, 11-15 July, Adelaide Melville, NY: Amer. Inst. Physics Press,2000.

Davenport, W. B. and Root, W. L. An Introduction to the Theory of Random Signals and Noise. New York: IEEE Press, 1987.

McDonough, R. N. and Whalen, A. D. Detection of Signals in Noise, 2nd ed. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1995.

Pierce, J. R. Symbols, Signals and Noise: The Nature and Process of Communication. New York: Harper & Row, 1961.

Vainshtein, L. A. and Zubakov, V. D. Extraction of Signals from Noise. New York: Dover, 1970.

van der Ziel, A. Noise: Sources, Characterization, Measurement. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1954.

van der Ziel, A. Noise in Measurement. New York: Wiley, 1976.

Wax, N. Selected Papers on Noise and Stochastic Processes. New York: Dover, 1954.

Weisstein, E. W. "Books about Noise." http://www.ericweisstein.com/encyclopedias/books/Noise.html.