Patent ID: 8860508

Claim:
An integrated circuit implementing a variable gain amplifier (VGA) comprising: a pair of input transistors, each input transistor in the pair configured to receive a differential RF input signal; a fine gain control circuit configured to receive the differential RF input signal from a collector electrode of one of the input transistors in the pair of input transistors, wherein said fine gain control circuit is configured to steer at least a portion of the RF input signal to a downstream processing stage of the VGA; a coarse gain control circuit in the downstream processing stage configured to receive the at least a portion of the RF input signal from the fine gain control circuit, wherein the coarse gain control circuit steers at least a portion of the RF input signal provided by the fine gain control circuit to an output terminal of the VGA; wherein at least one of said fine gain control circuit and said coarse gain control circuit comprises a plurality of common base transistors.