Noise Figure and Receiver Sensitivity Explained: Practical RF Design for Low-Noise Systems

Understanding Noise Figure and Receiver Sensitivity for Beginners

One of the most misunderstood concepts in RF and Microwave engineering is noise figure, and specifically how it contributes to the sensitivity of a receiver. To understand these concepts, lets start at a high level.

Dynamic Range in Receivers

The purpose of an RF or Microwave receiver is to detect and usually decode a wirelessly transmitted signal. The signal can be emitted by a friendly transmitter (wireless communications), an unfriendly transmitter (electronic warfare), the system itself (radar), or an unknown source (test and measurement). The goal of the receiver is always the same, which is to detect and analyze both high power and low power signals. The linearity (resistance to distortion) quantifies the ability of the receiver to cleanly detect high power signals. The sensitivity of the receiver quantifies its ability to detect low power signals. The dynamic range (in dB) quantifies both at the same time.

Fig. 1: Receiver Input with desired signal, undesired blocking signals, and thermal noise (contributed by the antenna or the system itself)

What Is Sensitivity and Why It Matters

The sensitivity of a receiver determines the minimum input signal power that can be reliably detected, usually measured in dBm. Sensitivity is a critical specification as it determines how far away you can receive a communication signal or detect a target, or how much (expensive) transmitted power is required to communicate at a fixed distance.

Sensitivity is governed by the degradation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from the input to the output of the system. Most engineers associate sensitivity with the noise figure (NF) of the amplifier, but in practice, loss in the front end of the system plays a much larger role than the noise added by the amplifier itself.

When Sensitivity Doesn’t Matter

Receiver noise figure and sensitivity are not always the dominant factor in the fidelity of a received signal. In congested signal environments with many jammers, linearity and IP3 matter more than noise figure. Further, impairments within the receiver itself may degrade the signal more than the noise figure. For example, spurious products from mixers, quantization noise, sampling spurs, noise from other Nyquist bands and blind spots, and phase noise from the local oscillator can easily degrade a signal more than the noise figure of a system if a receiver is not carefully designed.

How do Noise and Loss Degrade Sensitivity

Noise is the random fluctuation of a measured quantity (voltage and current for a received wireless signal). For most systems¹, the dominant source of noise comes from thermal fluctuations in the antenna and receiver itself. This noise is proportional to the temperature (usually assumed to be 25C or 298K) and the impedance of the system (usually 50 Ω). Therefore the sensitivity of a receiver can be improved by cooling the receiver or degraded by heating the receiver.

There are two critical concepts to understand about noise figure and sensitivity:

1)      Thermal noise is added by every component in the system, setting a ‘floor’ beneath which the signal cannot drop without losing information.

2)      An amplifier cannot distinguish between ‘noise’ and ‘desired signal’, they are both just fluctuations in voltage and current. Therefore any added noise will be amplified with the same gain as the signal.

Taken together we can see that signal power can be increased or decreased, and noise power can be increased or decreased but not below the noise floor. Counterintuitively then we want to ensure that the noise power is always above the noise floor to prevent sensitivity degradation.

Fig.2: Graphical illustrations of signal and noise power effects from cascaded attenuators, cascaded amplifiers, and a balance of amplification and lossy components in a well designed receiver.

Optimal Receiver Design in the Presence of Noise and Loss

As you can see in the illustrations, part of the art of receiver design is to balance lossy elements with gain to maintain the signal and noise power within the dynamic range of each subsequent component. After the signal is boosted by the front end LNA, it is typically best to alternate lossy components with equivalent gain blocks throughout the receiver. This prevents the signal from being subsumed by the noise, while at the same time preventing the amplifiers from boosting the signal to saturation levels and causing distortion. It is helpful to have variable gain amplifiers and variable attenuators to adapt to the power level of incoming signals, but these take time to settle and will lose some signal during the power leveling process.

Noise Figure, Noise Temperature, and Noise Factor

There are three commonly used and interchangeable performance metrics for signal to noise degradation in RF components and subsystems. As discussed above, in lossy components these are determined by the loss. In components with gain they are determined by the amount of noise added in addition to the amplified input noise.

Note that the added noise is a fixed power, not a ratio. For this reason noise factor is typically the easiest to calculate. Noise factor gives the degradation of signal to noise ratio from the input to the output of a component or subsystem. It is unitless. This can be easier to calculate because you need to add the input noise to the thermal noise of a component.

The more familiar noise figure is the same value in logarithmic (dB) units. This is more useful for system designers generally because it can easily be used to calculate the system noise figure.

Noise temperature is another way to express added noise. It represents what temperature a matched load would need to be at to produce the same noise. This is generally used for very low noise systems like cryogenically cooled amplifiers and receivers used in radio astronomy or quantum computing.

Cascaded Noise Figure

As you can see from the diagrams above, the order in which signal processing components are arranged has a significant impact on the final signal to noise ratio in a receiver. An attenuator followed by a low noise amplifier degrades the signal to noise ratio more than a low noise amplifier followed by an attenuator, and therefore has a higher noise figure.

This effect is quantified by the famous Friis’ formula for cascaded noise figure. Assuming that you have a series of n components with noise factor F_i and Gain (or Loss) G_i, expressed as dimensionless linear quantities.

Fig. 3: Illustration of a the noise figure of a cascade of components

The noise factor of this cascade is given by: 

Note that the most important contribution is the noise factor of the first stage, which is the noise factor of the LNA or the loss of all preceding components. The noise factor of the following stages is diminished by the gain of the amplifiers in the system, which amplify both the signal and the noise. This provides mathematical support to the idea that the loss and noise contribution of the early stages is the most important, but having high gain in the early LNA is also important for very low noise systems.  

Noise Figure in Amplifiers

Now that we’ve established how sensitivity is primarily degraded by front-end loss, we can turn to the sources of signal-to-noise degradation within the amplifier itself.

At RF and Microwave frequencies, low noise amplification is usually achieved with GaAs pHEMT transistors or SiGe bipolar transistors since these transistors are able to achieve the lowest noise figure.  According to the Pospieszalski Model for HEMT noise, there are three main contributors to an amplifier's noise figure:

1. Pre-gain loss — Any loss before the active gain element (e.g., due to matching or pad resistances) directly degrades the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
2. Thermal noise from resistive elements — In particular, input-side resistances (like gate resistance) generate thermal noise that is amplified along with the signal.
3. Channel noise in the transistor — This is caused by random velocity fluctuations of carriers under high electric field conditions. While sometimes misattributed to shot noise, it actually arises from thermal-like noise generated within the FET channel. This output-side noise is modeled as an equivalent drain temperature (TdT_dTd​), which scales with drain current due to increased electron heating.

These three contributors together define the total added noise of the amplifier. The first two (loss and thermal noise) are generally independent of bias, while the third—channel noise—increases with current.

This means that, counterintuitively, lower current consumption can actually result in lower noise figure, assuming gain and matching are preserved. That’s why ultra-low power LNAs can still deliver excellent noise performance.

Fig. 4: Sources of Noise in a GaAs or InP FET (after M. W. Pospieszalski, "Extremely low-noise amplification with cryogenic FETs and HFETs: 1970-2004," in IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 62-75, Sept. 2005, doi: 10.1109/MMW.2005.1511915.)

Gain Corrected Noise Figure

In addition to noise figure, the gain of a low noise amplifier is important to the noise figure of the receiver. The contribution from the noise figure of all other components in the receiver is reduced by the gain of the first stage. Therefore, a high gain low noise amplifier in the front a receiver is desirable. The limit to how much gain is desirable is set by the maximum signal power that is expected at the input of the receiver. If the gain added to the input power level causes the LNA to saturate, or causes subsequent amplifier stages to saturate, the signal will be distorted by the receiver.,

Marki’s new Ultra-Low Power Low Noise Amplifers

Understanding that low currents are desirable for low noise amplification, Marki Microwave set out to design low noise amplifiers with the lowest current consumption available on the market. This led to our new line of ultra-low power low noise amplifiers. These LNAs offer high gain, a small form factor, single bias, simple application circuits, and of course industry leading noise figures with a current consumption at least as low as any competing amplifier in the market.

Part Number	Band (GHz)	Gain (dB)	Noise Figure (dB)	DC Current (mA)
ADM-10709PSM	6-18	27	1.5	8
ADM-10711PSM	8-12	39	1.4	8
ADM-10713PSM	12-18	27	1.6	8
ADM-10715PSM	12-22	25	1.8	8
ADM-10717PSM	18-40	17	2.5	6
ADM-10719PSM	20-31	22	1.9	8
ADM-10721PSM	4-22	20	2.3	17
ADM-10699PSM	2-20	15	2.3	54
ADM-10701PSM	2-20	13	2.4	15
ADM-10703PSM	3-30	11	3.3	39

These amplifiers were designed simultaneously using the most sophisticated circuits available and using Marki’s proprietary design flow, guaranteeing first pass design success. These new amplifier complement Marki’s robust catalog of broadband low noise amplifiers:

Part Number	Frequency Band (GHz)	Gain [dB]	NF [dB]
ADM-9028PSM	0-20	17	2.5
AMM-9853PSM	0-20	16.5	1.8
AMM-9859PSM	2-20	15.5	1.9
AMM-9852PSM	0-20	17.5	1.8
AMM-9858PSM	2-20	17.5	1.9
ADM-9027PSM	2-24	17	1.8
AMM-9855PSM	0-30	13	2.2
AMM-9854PSM	0-30	14	2.5
AMM-9861PSM	3-30	11.7	2.5
AMM-9860PSM	3-30	13.5	2.7
AMM-9862PSM	4-40	10	3.4

Conclusion: Rethinking Sensitivity Starts with Smarter Amplifiers

Receiver sensitivity is a key system metric—it defines what your system can hear, decode, detect, and measure. And while noise figure is an important part of that story, this app note has shown that it's often misunderstood, misapplied, or overemphasized in isolation. The real challenge is building a complete receiver front end that balances noise, gain, linearity, and practical constraints like power, size, and cost.

Marki’s new Ultra-Low Power Low Noise Amplifiers were engineered specifically for today’s most demanding RF front ends—especially those in phased array systems, airborne platforms, and other environments where space, weight, and power constraints dominate design decisions. With minimal current consumption, single-bias simplicity, and compact MMIC packaging, these amplifiers deliver exceptional sensitivity and noise performance without the usual tradeoffs in efficiency or integration complexity.

Whether you’re building a multi-element phased array or a compact high-frequency receiver, these LNAs help you maximize performance while minimizing your payload. Combined with Marki’s existing catalog of high-dynamic-range gain blocks, distributed amplifiers, and low-loss limiters, engineers can now design front ends that outperform legacy designs in both performance and practicality.

If you’re designing a receiver and want to push the limits of sensitivity without burning through your power budget—or if you just want to avoid common pitfalls in noise analysis—start by rethinking what your amplifier is doing for your system. And if you still have questions, you're not alone. Keep scrolling for detailed, expert answers to the most frequently asked questions about noise figure, sensitivity, and low noise amplifiers.

¹In wireless systems there is famously a universal noise floor set by the cosmic background radiation left over from the big bang (called the ‘smoking gun’ that proves the big bang). This noise floor is at a noise temperature of 2.7k, which is why radio astronomy receivers need to be cooled to cryogenic temperatures to detect objects in deep space.

Basic Conceptual Questions

• What exactly is noise figure, and why do people keep using it wrong?

Noise figure (NF) quantifies the degradation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a signal passes through a component, assuming a thermally noise-limited input at a reference temperature (typically 290 K). Many engineers mistakenly treat NF like S-parameters—assuming it's independent of input conditions, frequency, or temperature. This leads to incorrect assumptions about how NF behaves in cascaded systems. While NF is expressed in dB for convenience, it cannot simply be added across stages unless each stage operates under specific conditions (e.g., thermal-noise-limited source, no preceding gain).

• Is noise figure the same thing as noise power?

No. Noise power refers to the actual measured power of noise, usually in watts or dBm, over a specific bandwidth. In receivers, total noise power is largely determined by the gain applied to the thermal noise present at the input, with some contribution from the amplifier’s own noise.
In sources like synthesizers, LOs, or DACs, noise power is driven by the noise characteristics of the generator itself—combined with any gain or attenuation downstream. NF, on the other hand, describes how much the SNR degrades—not the total noise power.

The bandwidth of the system is also critical to understanding noise power. Noise, like any signal, has a frequency associated with it and can be filtered out. Filtering out undesired noise is a critical function of any receiver, in addition to filtering out the undesired signals. The easiest way to improve the signal to noise ratio is to reduce the receiver bandwidth to filter out unnecessary noise.

• How is noise figure different from noise floor?

Noise floor is the absolute level of noise power at the output of a system, expressed in dBm/Hz. It is typically a function of added system noise, temperature, and gain. Noise figure, by contrast, is a relative measure of how much worse the output SNR is compared to an ideal (noise-free) amplifier.
If the source is noisy—say, from a hot resistor or internal circuit noise—then the system noise floor will rise, and the calculated NF will appear worse because it assumes a thermally limited input. In short:

• Noise floor = output noise level
• Noise figure = added degradation in SNR

• What’s the relationship between noise figure and receiver sensitivity?

Sensitivity defines the lowest signal level a receiver can detect with acceptable performance. It is determined by the noise floor and the minimum required SNR for the detection process (e.g., for demodulation or ADC resolution).
The analog front end of the receiver—including the LNA and passive losses—determines the system’s noise figure. This NF contributes directly to the total noise power at the detector or ADC input, which in turn determines sensitivity. Higher NF = worse sensitivity, all else equal.

• Why is the lowest noise figure not always the best choice?

A low NF is desirable—but not always optimal. Tradeoffs include:

• Linearity: A very low-NF LNA may saturate or distort under strong signals, reducing dynamic range.
• Gain: Insufficient gain may fail to overcome downstream losses, degrading overall system NF.
• Stability and return loss: Poor input match or instability may hurt real-world performance despite great specs.
• Biasing and size: Low-NF amplifiers may require complicated bias networks or larger footprints.
• Practical factors: Cost, availability, or export controls may make the “best NF” part impractical.

In short, system design is about balance—NF is only one of many factors that determine real-world performance.

• If two amplifiers have the same gain, why does one with 0.3 dB lower NF matter at all?

A 0.3 dB improvement in NF can make a measurable difference in system sensitivity—especially if the LNA is at the front of the chain. For communication or radar systems, this may mean detecting weaker signals, increasing range, or reducing the required transmit power.
Whether this matters in your system depends on factors like total system NF, link margin, and application-level performance thresholds. In precision systems, a fraction of a dB can matter. In others, it may not.

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Calculation & Application Questions

• When should I use noise temperature instead of noise figure?

Noise temperature is most useful in very low noise systems, or when designing across a wide range of operating temperatures. It provides a linear, additive metric (in kelvin) that's more intuitive when analyzing small noise contributions—particularly when calculating cascaded noise in cryogenic systems, radio astronomy, quantum computing, or satellite receivers.
Converting from noise figure (in dB) to noise temperature also allows direct comparison with thermal noise sources like resistors, loads, and blackbody radiators.

• How does bandwidth affect my noise performance?

Bandwidth is a critical—and often misunderstood—factor in sensitivity and noise performance. While signal power typically stays confined to a defined bandwidth, noise power scales directly with system bandwidth.

• The wider the bandwidth, the more noise is integrated.
• Reducing bandwidth improves SNR, especially when filtering is applied before the ADC.

Noise, like signal, can be filtered at any stage in the chain. If broadband noise enters the ADC, it will be aliased across Nyquist zones—even noise outside the signal band can fold into the digitized bandwidth, doubling or tripling noise power and degrading sensitivity.

For measurement purposes, however, it’s often ideal to increase bandwidth. In noise figure measurements, a wider IF bandwidth captures more noise power quickly, which improves statistical accuracy and reduces measurement time. This is the opposite of SNR-based signal detection, where narrow bandwidth is often preferred.

• Can I just stack multiple LNAs to lower the system noise figure?

Unfortunately, no. Due to Friis’ formula, the system noise figure is dominated by the first stage in the chain. Adding more LNAs after the first one does not lower the overall noise figure—it only increases complexity and adds more noise. The best strategy is to place a high-gain, low-noise amplifier as early as possible in the receiver chain, ideally before any lossy components.

• If my antenna has 2 dB loss, how badly does that ruin my 0.5 dB NF LNA?

A 2 dB passive loss in front of a 0.5 dB NF LNA will increase the system’s effective noise figure to approximately 2.5 dB. Loss ahead of the amplifier is the most damaging to sensitivity, because it attenuates the signal before amplification while still passing the full noise power. This significantly reduces SNR.

However, system-level tradeoffs apply. If the lossy antenna provides higher gain or better pattern performance than alternatives, the net system sensitivity may still improve. This is one reason phased arrays and directional antennas are often favored—they provide gain where it matters, offsetting front-end loss.

Real-World Design and Cascaded System Questions

• How much does that cable between my antenna and LNA really hurt me?

It depends heavily on frequency and length. At frequencies below 3 GHz and cable lengths under 1 meter, well-matched coaxial cables may introduce negligible degradation to system noise figure. However, at higher frequencies (e.g., 6 GHz and above), even modest cable lengths introduce substantial insertion loss, which directly adds to the system noise figure and significantly reduces receiver sensitivity and range. Always evaluate the specific cable loss in your band of interest.

• Should I amplify before or after filtering? What if I have jammers?

This is one of the most important architecture decisions in receiver design. The trade-off comes down to noise figure versus linearity.

• Amplifying before filtering:
• Yields better noise figure, since amplifier gain reduces the impact of downstream losses.
• Works well if the amplifier has sufficient linearity to handle out-of-band signals.
• Filtering before amplifying:
• Reduces distortion from strong out-of-band interferers (jammers) that could saturate or intermodulate in the LNA.
• Adds loss before the gain, degrading noise figure unless compensated with very low-loss filters.

In practice, designers often use a compromise approach:

1. A broadband, low-loss front-end filter or switchable filter bank to knock down jammers.
2. A broadband low noise amplifier (LNA) with high gain.
3. Tighter intermediate frequency (IF) filtering later in the chain to clean up close-in distortion products.

• Can I use a limiter before my LNA without destroying my noise performance?

Yes—with the right limiter. A limiter does introduce insertion loss, which directly worsens the system noise figure. However, if high power threats are present, it may be necessary to protect the LNA. Marki offers low-loss, fast-recovery limiters with excellent flat leakage and minimal spike energy, specifically designed to preserve sensitivity while preventing damage or overload.
 Explore Marki limiter products

• Is input return loss connected to noise figure?

Yes, but the relationship is nuanced:

• Poor return loss means more power is reflected at the input, reducing the delivered signal power—which degrades the effective SNR and noise figure.
• However, the optimal noise match for an LNA is usually not the same as the impedance that yields the best return loss. Designers intentionally sacrifice input match in favor of minimum noise figure—especially in low noise designs.
• Echoes from mismatches can also cause distortion. At the front end of the system these echoes will also be amplified with the high gain of the front end LNA and can be difficult to compensate.

• Do digital attenuators count as lossy components in cascaded noise figure calculations?

Yes. Whether it’s a mechanical attenuator, digital step attenuator, or switched network, any insertion loss before a gain stage contributes directly to noise figure degradation. The switching elements inside digital attenuators (usually FETs or diodes) add minimal noise compared to the insertion loss itself, which is the dominant factor.

• How do passive mixers or switches affect my system NF?

Passive components like mixers and switches do not generally generate significant additive noise, but they degrade SNR due to insertion loss. In noise figure analysis:

• Loss before the LNA → adds dB-for-dB to the system noise figure.
• Loss after the LNA → mitigated by amplifier gain, contributes only marginally.

For example, a 6 dB passive mixer after a 20 dB LNA contributes very little to system NF. But before the LNA, it would destroy receiver sensitivity.

Power, Linearity, and Tradeoff Questions

• Can I have a high-linearity, low-power, and low-noise LNA at the same time?

In most cases, no single amplifier can achieve the absolute best performance across all three parameters. Here’s why:

• Noise figure (NF) and linearity both improve with increased current consumption, but the relationship is not linear. More current typically improves linearity faster than it degrades noise figure.
• Amplifiers have different optimal impedance matches for minimum NF, maximum power output, and best return loss. You can only perfectly match for one, and the others must be traded off.
• The lowest NF is often achieved using a noise-optimized input match, which compromises power handling and return loss.

That said, trade-offs are flexible. You can often design a low noise, moderately linear amplifier, or a linear, reasonably low-noise design—but not the absolute best of both simultaneously. For instance, Marki’s ultra-low power LNAs prioritize lowest possible current draw and excellent NF, making them ideal for distributed antenna systems like phased arrays, where high input power levels are unlikely. However, they’re not suited for high-congestion receivers behind high-gain antennas where linearity is critical.

• What’s the point of distributed amplifiers if they have worse noise figure?

Distributed amplifiers (DAs) inherently suffer from higher noise figure, especially at low frequencies, due to resistive losses in the gate and drain terminations. However, they offer two major advantages:

1. Exceptionally flat gain over broad bandwidths—sometimes from DC to >70 GHz.
2. Higher output power and linearity at high frequencies compared to alternative broadband topologies.

This performance comes from the fact that device capacitance is absorbed into the distributed architecture rather than limiting bandwidth through traditional roll-off. The tradeoffs are:

• Larger die size
• Higher current draw
• Noise figure penalties at band edges

In applications where bandwidth and output power matter more than absolute NF, DAs are often the best or only option.

• What limits the very low frequency noise of an amplifier?

Below ~100 MHz, 1/f (flicker) noise becomes dominant. This is caused by:

• Trapping and detrapping of carriers at surface states in the semiconductor
• Fluctuations in mobility or carrier density
• Material and process dependencies (e.g., GaAs pHEMTs vs. SiGe HBTs)

This low-frequency noise is particularly important in phase noise-sensitive designs like synthesizers or ADC drivers. It also limits the low-end NF of wideband amplifiers, especially in test and measurement applications.

 

Physics and Modeling Questions

• What is the actual physical origin of noise in a transistor?

The primary source of intrinsic transistor noise is random carrier transport across the channel. Electrons are scattered unpredictably by phonons and crystal imperfections, leading to fluctuations in arrival times—similar to variations in traffic flow. These random arrival patterns result in output noise power.
Externally, resistive elements like gate and base metal contacts also generate thermal noise, especially at the input where small signal levels are most vulnerable.

• Is the drain noise in a pHEMT actually thermal noise or what?

No. Drain noise in pHEMTs is not thermal noise in the conventional sense because it does not depend on ambient temperature. Instead, it results from velocity fluctuations of carriers under high-field conditions—often called channel noise. It behaves similarly to thermal noise in its power spectral density but scales with drain current rather than ambient temperature.

• Is noise figure affected by device temperature? How?

Yes, but with nuance. Resistive (thermal) noise increases with temperature, so the additive noise from an amplifier rises as the device heats up. However, noise figure is a relative metric—it compares the output SNR to that of an ideal noise-free amplifier operating at a standard reference temperature (typically 290K).
That’s why in cryogenic or high-temp environments, noise temperature is often preferred—it’s absolute and directly correlates with physical temperature.

Meta-Level Questions

• Is it better to have a good LNA up front or a perfect one buried behind 3 dB of loss?

Almost always better to have a good LNA with low loss in front. A “perfect” LNA buried behind 3 dB of insertion loss effectively adds 3 dB to its noise figure. In contrast, the difference between a typical LNA and a state-of-the-art LNA is usually just a few tenths of a dB. Front-end loss is the dominant factor in system sensitivity.

• Should I care more about NF, IP3, or P1dB in a real-world wideband receiver?

It depends on your environment:

• In crowded or contested RF spaces, linearity (IP3) is the limiting factor because in-band distortion from strong blockers will corrupt your signal.
• In quiet or deep space applications, sensitivity (NF) dominates because you're dealing with signals near the noise floor.
• P1dB is critical only if you expect very strong signals that might saturate your front end.
  In most modern wideband receivers, IP3 is often more limiting than NF due to the prevalence of strong interferers and wide instantaneous bandwidth.

• If I simulate my receiver chain with system blocks and get 3 dB NF, is that real?

Probably not. Simulated noise figures are notoriously optimistic, especially at microwave and mm-wave frequencies. That’s because real-world loss (from connectors, board material, transitions, etc.) is hard to model accurately, and it adds directly to the system NF. Unless you've painstakingly modeled those losses, measured performance will almost always be worse than simulations predict.

• Is it better to use a low noise amplifier with low NF but low input survivability, or one with higher NF but better survivability?

You can often get the best of both worlds by adding a limiter in front of a low-NF LNA. The key question is whether the insertion loss of the limiter is less than the NF difference between the two amplifier options.
In many cases, the combo of a high-performance limiter + low-NF LNA will outperform a standalone high-survivability LNA. Marki's low-loss wideband limiters enable this type of architecture, especially in high-frequency receivers.