Revision of the Methodology for Processing Radio Noise Measurements in the Medium-Wave Band [Wireless Corner]

This study discusses the relevance of the methodology applied to process indoor noise measurements in the medium-wave band in order to provide reference noise levels. The knowledge of noise levels is necessary for planning radio services and for analyzing the influence of radio noise in the human body. This work presents a description of the parameters for characterizing the noise-measurement antennas, and explains how these parameters are determined. The terms for specifying the noise intensity and the methods for processing radio-noise measurements are described. The characteristics of an ideal and an actual antenna in the medium-wave band are presented, showing the relevance of the difference between the ideal and actual antennas when radio-noise levels are calculated. This work presents the differences in the noise levels given by different processing methods, using an actual antenna and a theoretical antenna. Finally, the results of several recently published noise measurements that have been processed by different methods are presented, and compared with the values predicted by ITU-R P.372.