Signal-Noise Ratio: Decibels & Resolving Signals

[dmorris619]

I am trying to get an understanding of what a good signal to noise ratio in terms of decibels. My SNR is roughly 20 dB, and am concerned about being able to resolve the signal from this.

 

[marcusl]

You need to provide a context--what is your system, application, apparatus, etc.--to get a useful answer. In general, however, 20 dB (a 100:1 ratio of signal power to noise power) could be considered excellent, even luxurious. (Consider that GPS receivers operate on a signal that is below the thermal noise floor).

 

[dmorris619]

Its for an integrated circuit that reads the magnetic field. I am calculating the noise generated by the device which is essentially white noise.

 

[Topher925]

Information can very easily be resolved from a signal with SNR of 20dB and rarely does one have such luck to work with such signals.

The lowest detectable signal is often said to be when the signal power is equal to the noise power or the SNR is 0dB. There are of course methods of observing a signal will less than 0dB such as those used in GPS receivers like mentioned above.