Gain (electronics)

In electronics, gain is a measure of the ability of a two port circuit (often an amplifier) to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output port by adding energy converted from some power supply to the signal. It is usually defined as the mean ratio of the signal amplitude or power at the output port to the amplitude or power at the input port. It is often expressed using the logarithmic decibel (dB) units ("dB gain"). A gain greater than one (zero dB), that is amplification, is the defining property of an active component or circuit, while a passive circuit will have a gain of less than one.