Patent ID: 8461898

Claim:
A temperature compensating attenuator, comprising: a first attenuation circuit having a first attenuation level, the first attenuation circuit comprising: a first series connected attenuation circuit segment having a first plurality of stacked transistors; a first shunt connected attenuation circuit segment having a second plurality of stacked transistors; a control circuit adapted to receive an attenuation control signal, the control circuit being coupled to the first plurality of stacked transistors and the second plurality of stacked transistors to control the first attenuation level of the first attenuation circuit based on a signal level of the attenuation control signal; and a temperature compensating circuit comprising a first operating temperature circuit operable to generate a first operating temperature signal having a signal level related to an operating temperature associated with the first attenuation circuit, a first reference circuit operable to generate a reference signal at a reference level, and a comparator circuit adapted to receive the first operating temperature signal and the reference signal, the comparator circuit being operable to detect a difference between the signal level of the first operating temperature signal and the reference level to generate a comparison signal, wherein the temperature compensating circuit is operable to generate an attenuation control adjustment signal having a signal level related to a temperature change in the operating temperature from the comparison signal, the temperature compensating circuit being operably associated with the control circuit so that the attenuation control signal is adjustable based on the signal level of the attenuation control adjustment signal.