In this paper, a compact low-power (LP) low-voltage (LV) metal--oxide--semiconductor-only (MOS-only) variable gain amplifier (VGA) is introduced. This amplifier based on complementary MOS (CMOS) transistors operating in strong inversion is composed of a pseudo-exponential current-to-voltage converter, analog multiplier, and output stage. The gain of the amplifier is controlled exponentially by a novel wide-range pseudoexponential current-to-voltage converter implemented with two back-to-back connected current mirrors exhibiting superb exponential characteristic. Also, a new LV/LP composite transistor is introduced to increase the input dynamic range of the multiplier. The amplifier is fabricated using a 2-m MOSIS n-well process, and its simulation and measurement results are shown in detail. I. INTRODUCTION A LTHOUGH lower supply voltage directly translates to lower power consumption in digital circuits, a similar conclusion cannot necessarily be drawn for analog circuits. Therefore...