This paper will summarize the technology tradeoffs that are involved in the implementation of radio frequency integrated circuits for wireless communications. Radio transceiver circuits have a very broad range of requirements - including noise-figure, linearity, gain, power dissipation. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the competing technologies - Si CMOS, and BJT, Si/SiGe HBTs, and GaAs MESFETs, PHEMTS and HBTs will be examined.