Frequency instability

Definition
frequency instability ie

{{Quote|[t]he spontaneous and/or environmentally caused frequency change of a signal within a given time interval.

Overview
Generally, there is a distinction between systematic effects such as frequency drift and stochastic frequency fluctuations. Special variances have been developed for the characterization of these fluctuations. Systematic instabilities may be caused by radiation, pressure, temperature, and humidity. Random or stochastic instabilities are typically characterized in the time domain or frequency domain. They are typically dependent on the measurement system bandwidth or on the sample time or integration time.