  Based on our recent work on quantum transport [Li et al., Phys. Rev. B 71,
205304 (2005)], where the calculation of transport current by means of quantum
master equation was presented, in this paper we show how an efficient
calculation can be performed for the transport noise spectrum. Compared to the
longstanding classical rate equation or the recently proposed quantum
trajectory method, the approach presented in this paper combines their
respective advantages, i.e., it enables us to tackle both the many-body Coulomb
interactionand quantum coherence on equal footing and under a wide range of
setup circumstances. The practical performance and advantages are illustrated
by a number of examples, where besides the known results and new insights
obtained in a transparent manner, we find that this alternative approach is
much simpler than other well-known full quantum mechanical methods such as the
Landauer-B\"uttiker scattering matrix theory and the nonequilibrium Green's
function technique.
