Automatic Gain Control (AGC) in Receivers

AGC was implemented in first radios for the reason of fading propagation (defined as slow variations in the amplitude of the received signals) which required continuing adjustments in the receiver‟s gain in order to maintain a relative constant output signal. Such situation led to the design of circuits, which primary ideal function was to maintain a constant signal level at the output, regardless of the signal‟s variations at the input of the system. Now AGC circuits can be found in any device or system where wide amplitude variations in the output signal could lead to a lost of information or to an unacceptable performance of the system. Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuits are employed in many systems where the amplitude of an incoming signal can vary over a wide dynamic range. The role of the AGC circuit is to provide a relatively constant output amplitude so that circuits following the AGC circuit require less dynamic range. If the signal level changes are much slower than the information rate contained in the signal, then an AGC circuit can be used to provide a signal with a well defined average level to downstream circuits. In most system applications, the time to adjust the gain in response to an input amplitude change should remain constant, independent of the input amplitude level and hence gain setting of the amplifier.