Noise factor of active-tile for two-dimensional communication

Abstract

This paper presents theoretical analysis and empirical evaluation of noise factor of active-tile two-dimensional communication (2DC) system. 2DC uses a thin waveguide sheet for microwave propagation along the sheet. For implementing a room-scale 2DC, an active tile, which compensates signal loss with an active circuit and enables signal propagation across a number of sheets, has been proposed in our previous work. Although the signal strength is kept constant across the tiles, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases due to the noise factor of amplifiers. It determines the maximum number of 2DC tiles connected in series while providing a required SNR. The paper shows SNR formulation using the noise factor of each active tile and the number of tiles in a series connection. Based on it, the maximum number of tiles connected in series with a required overall SNR is determined.