On the intrinsic origin of 1/f noise

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fundamental cause of 1/f noise, demonstrating that it arises from a random walk in the interevent times of pulse sequences, leading to long-memory processes and characteristic power spectra.

Contribution

It reveals that the intrinsic origin of 1/f noise is due to a random walk in the average interevent time between pulses, providing a new understanding of its fundamental mechanism.

Findings

1/f noise results from a random walk in interevent times

Long-memory processes are responsible for 1/f spectral characteristics

Pulse sequences exhibit 1/f type power spectra due to this mechanism

Abstract

The problem of the intrinsic origin of 1/f noise is considered. Currents and signals consisting of a sequence of pulses are analysed. It is shown that intrinsic origin of 1/f noise is a random walk of the average time between subsequent pulses of the pulse sequence, or interevent time. This results in the long-memory process for the pulse occurrence time and in 1/f type power spectrum of the signal.