Patent ID: 7869549

Claim:
A method of gain control, comprising: amplifying an input signal with a variable gain amplifier to generate an output signal, wherein the gain of the variable gain amplifier is selected based upon a control signal presented at a control input of the variable gain amplifier; determining when the output signal has a magnitude outside of predetermined upper and lower boundaries; generating a clock pulse substantially synchronized with the output signal, wherein the generating the clock pulse is performed with a clock generator; when the output signal is larger than the upper boundary a first pulse is applied to a first switch, incrementally changing the magnitude of the control signal so as to reduce the gain of the variable gain amplifier in a step-wise linear fashion; and when the output signal is smaller than the lower boundary a second pulse is applied to a second switch, incrementally changing the magnitude of the control signal so as to increase the gain of the variable gain amplifier in a step-wise linear fashion, wherein the first pulse is different from the second pulse and the first pulse comprises a first pulse width and the second pulse comprises a second pulse width that are fixed by the clock pulse.