a protection circuit for a power amplifier of a radio frequency transmitter includes a sensing circuit that generates a sensed signal based on an output of the power amplifier . a reference signal generator generates a reference signal . a comparator communicates with the sensing circuit and the reference signal generator and outputs a first state when the reference signal exceeds the sensed signal and a second state when the sensed signal exceeds the reference signal . a turn off circuit turns off the power amplifier when the comparator is in the second state .