and represents the absolute power level above or below the reference power. In this case.

the user must know the reference power, which is expressed by adding additional letters to
the abbreviation dB. For example, dBm is used to signify a reference power or 1 mW. Table
A-1 lists some of the more commonly used dB units and their reference levels and
abbreviations.

Noise Measurements

In the telephone industry. noise on voice frequency analog communications circuits is

measured in terms of the annoyance effects of the noise on the listener. This is done by
using a frequency weighting function, which accounts for the listeners hearing as well as
the frequency response of the telephone receiver. For example, if a 500-Hz interfering
tone is deemed only half as annoying as a 1000-Hz interfering tone. the weighting
function would assign only one half as much importance to the 500-Hz tone as to the
1000-Hz tone. The weighting function is physically obtained by placing an electric filter
network in the noise meter.
Weighting Functions. In the 1920s, the Western Electric 144-type telephone hand set was
used for noise interference experiments. This resulted in the "144 weighting" curve shown
in Fig A-2. This curve is primarily determined by the frequency response of the 144-type
hand set.
In the 1930s, the 302-type telephone set became prevalent and led to "FIA weighting."
As shown in Fig. A-2. the FIA weighting has a wider bandwidth than 144 weighting. This
is because the 302 telephone set itself had a wider response, and thus more noise could be
transmitted through it to impair speech transmission.

With the advent of the 500-type telephone set in Ne 1950s, a new weighting function was
developed. This has a slightly wider bandwidth and known as "C message weighting” (see
Fig. A-2). C message weighting is now the standard used for noise measurements in the
Bell System.
Noise Units. When the early noise measuring sets were designed, it was decided to define
noise in dB-type units compared to a reference noise power of 10-12 W, or -90 dBm. This
amount of noise power (-90 dBm) is on the threshold of detection by the ear. The noise
unit is called dBrn (dB reference noise). Thus. 0 dBrn means a noise power of -90 dBm.
Such early test sets read 0 dBrn if -90 dBm of 1000-Hz power is measured. Due to the 144
weighting. however, equal amounts of power at other frequencies give different noise
readings.
When the 302-type telephones became common. the 2B noise set incorporating FIA
weighting was developed. The set's designer decided to make the 2B noise set give the
same numerical reading as the early noise sets for measurements of 0- to 3000-Hz
bandlimited white noise. Due to the different weighting networks used, however. the 2B
noise set reads 5-dB lower than the early sets for 1000-Hz power. Thus, the reference power
for the 2B set was raised to -85 dBm (10-11.5 W) at 1000 Hz. The change in reference power
necessitated a change in units. The new unit was called dBa (dBrn adjusted). Thus, 0 dBa
is equal to -85 dBm of 1000 Hz power. This unit dBa, was used almost exclusively for 25
years.
when the 500-type telephone sets became widely used, the 3A noise measuring set was
devolped. This set incorporates "C-message weighting." It was decided to return to the
original -90 dBm of 100 Hz as the reference level. with dBrnc as the unit. The unit dBrnc
means dBrn using C-message weighting. This reference level for the 3A noise measuring
set was selected because the modern transmission circuits had become quieter. and it was
thought that with a -85 –db refrence. negative dBa readings could occur and cause
confusion. Because of the different reference levels the 3A set reads 5-dB higher than the
2B set for 1000-Hz power. For most random noises. however. the 3A set reads about 6 dB
higher than the 2B set due to the difference in weighting.
Table A-2 shows a comparison of readings from cach of these three test sets.

Crosstalk Units
The unit of crosstalk is the dBx. This is a unusual unit since the reference is not an absolute
power level. The reference is 90 dB loss from the interfering circuit to the circuit being
interfered with. The unit is a measure of how much the crosstalk coupling loss is above 90
dB of coupling loss.
Therefore ,
Dbx = 90-(crosstalk coupling loss in dB) (A.19)
For example, suppose that circuit B picks up a signal from circuit A. but at a 62 dB lower
power level. The crosstalk from A to B. then. is 28 dBx.

Summing Powers Expressed in Decibels

It is often necessary to determine the sum of two powers when the individual powers are
expressed in dB with respect to some reference power level (e.g. dBm). The individual
powers could always be converted to absolute power, added, and converted back to dB, but
this is time consuming. The following procedure can be used when combining such terms.