Electromagnetic interference or noise which is of impulsive nature is known
to affect data communication performance. It is useful to correlate the characteristics
of the noise with the bit error probability (BEP). The amplitude probability
distribution (APD) has been proposed within CISPR for characterisation of the
impulsive noise. However, there is no analyser available to perform direct
measurement of the noise within the bandwidth of asymmetric digital subscriber line
(ADSL2+) communication. This research presents a novel development of APD
analyser for measurements of impulsive noise emission and its impact on ADSL2+
communication. A unique noise APD pattern is obtained from each measurement of
noise emission from different electrical and electronic appliances. It is vital to have
correct measurement set-up, signal power level, sampling rate, sample points and
filter characterisation in order to acquire accurate data representation of the noise
patterns. The APD graph is generated by the analyser using the APD algorithm
method which employs the envelope sampling technique from actual probability. The
noises are characterised using α-stable distribution which exhibits its own distinct
APD parameters. The APD curve can be related with the single modulation scheme
communication channel performance for estimation of bit error probability. The
analyser has been developed successfully with dynamic range of 70 dB higher than
the 60 dB CISPR 16 requirement, 0.02 dB amplitude resolution compared to 0.25 dB
CISPR 16 requirement and 0.59 dB amplitude accuracy compared with the CISPR 16
standard of +/- 2.7 dB. In addition, the limits for noise in copper cable have been
proposed for estimating the severity of the interference towards digital
communication performance in ADSL2+ system. An advantage of the analyser is its
ability to not only record the noise but the ability to regenerate back the noise which
can be used for further analysis. In conclusion, the analyser can provide a comprehensive platform for impulsive noise interference verification towards
ADSL2+ communication performance
