Is electrical noise useful? [Point of View]

The proposition that electrical noise could be useful is anathema to the designers of electronics and communication systems, who usually have a mission to eradicate as much noise as possible. One needs to look outside the parameters of conventional assumptions and perspectives for situations where electrical noise can be useful. Two topics are sufficient to illustrate affirmative answers to the posed question are stochastic resonance and dithering. Electrical noise is usually modeled by random variables. A second perspective that is quite different from the first is that randomness can be useful, and that electrical noise may be a useful source of randomness.

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