7. Conclusion and outlook

Noise is an important feature of analog radio equipment. Its exhaustive assessment calls on a wide variety of aspects of physics, electronics, systems and legislation, and requires a good deal of expertise to accurately predict its consequences.

What's more, oscillator phase noise is still a critical factor in improving the performance and use of telecommunications systems such as radar and positioning systems. In this field, ongoing advances in new classes of components (HBT AsGa transistors, MEMS components for mechanical tuning, ferroelectric materials for electronic tuning, superconducting materials) and improved design tools will contribute to this evolution.

The new need for reconfigurable equipment, aimed for example at reducing the constraints brought about by the existence of several standards in cellular telephony, will require...