US Patent 7583144 Power efficient programmable amplifier

A power efficient programmable gain amplifier is disclosed that provides programmable power consumption. The amplifier may include a first gain circuit and a programmable circuit that may include one or more second gain circuits that are programmable to provide variable power consumption and gain. The second gain circuits may be associated with one or more second current sources which may be programmably controlled to be turned on or off. When turned off, the second current source also may reduce the current value to substantially zero, thus reducing an overall power consumption of the amplifier.