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Noise averaging and measurement resolution (or a "little noise is a good thing")

Published

Author(s)

James E. Potzick

Abstract

When a continuous quantity is measured with a digital instrument or digitized for further processing, a measurement uncertainty component is incurred from quantization of the continuous variable. This uncertainty can be reduced by oversampling and averaging multiple measurements, but only if there is some noise on the measurand. In this paper, the optimum noise level is determined, and the consequent improvement in measurement uncertainty calculated.
Citation
Review of Scientific Instruments
Volume
70(4)

Keywords

averaging, measurement uncertainty, noise, oversampling, quantization

Citation

Potzick, J. (1999), Noise averaging and measurement resolution (or a "little noise is a good thing"), Review of Scientific Instruments (Accessed November 6, 2024)

Issues

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Created January 1, 1999, Updated February 19, 2017