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white noise

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random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density

~24 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The waveform of a Gaussian white noise signal plotted on a graph

In signal processing, white noise is a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. The term is used with this or similar meanings in many scientific and technical disciplines, including physics, acoustical engineering, telecommunications, and statistical forecasting. White noise refers to a statistical model for signals and signal sources, not to any specific signal. White noise draws its name from white light, although light that appears white generally does not have a flat power spectral density over the visible band.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “white noise” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.