Cirrus Logic Interview Topics for Analog and Digital Design
Thanks you for taking the time to interview for an analog or digital design position at Cirrus Logic. We
interview for both behavior traits and technical skills needed for advanced mixed signal product development.
Behavior traits for these positions include good problem solving, communication, innovation, analysis, and
questioning skills. For analog design positions we look for technical skills in DSP and CMOS analog IC design.
For digital design positions we look for technical skills in DSP and digital system design. Below are some of
the details on these topics. If a candidate has recently taken graduate level courses in these areas then he or
she will usually do well in the technical interviews. Knowledge in all three areas is a nice to have.
Basic Discrete Time Signal Processing Concepts
These topics apply to both Analog and Digital Design candidates.
       Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog Conversion
              Sampling Theorem
              Aliases
              Images
       Fundamentals of LTI Systems
       Difference Equations
       The z-Transform
              Filter Poles and Zeros
              Relationship between the z-plane and frequency response
              Relationship between the z-plane and the step response
       Basic Concepts of Decimation and Interpolation Filters
       Implementing of Digital Filters (Digital Designers Only)
              FIR versus IIR
              Signal Quantization
              Coefficient Quantization
              Limit Cycles in IIR filters
A good text book is Digital Signal Processing - Principles, Algorithms, and Applications by Proakis and
Manolakis.
CMOS Analog Integrated Circuit Design
These topics apply to Analog Design candidates.
       Circuit Analysis using Ohm's Law and Kirchoff's Laws
       The Laplace Transform
              Filter Poles and Zeros
              Relationship between the s-plane and frequency response
       Basics of MOSFET Operation and Small Signal Modeling
       Basic and Advanced Current Mirror Design
       Two Stage Opamp Design and Compensation
       Noise Analysis
              Frequency Domain Analysis of Noise
                        Noise Density
                        Total Integrated Noise
              Types of Noise
              Noise in CMOS Devices
                        Resistors
                        MOSFETs
                        Capacitors
              Analysis of Input Referred Noise in a Traditional 5 Transistor Opamp
              Noise analysis of an Opamp Configured as Low Pass Filter using Resistors and Capacitor
       Analysis of Switched Capacitor Circuits
              Parasitic Insenstive Integrators
              Charge Injection
       Basics of Delta-Sigma Analog to Digital Converters
A good text on CMOS circuit design is Analog Integrated Circuit Design by David A. Johns and Ken Martin or
Design of Analog CMOS Integrated Circuits by Behzad Razavi.
Digital System Design
These topics apply to Digital Designers.
       VLSI Logic Design
              Fundamentals of MOSFET Transistors
              Implementing Logic Functions with CMOS Transistors
              Timing Analysis of CMOS Logic Gates
       Combinational Logic Design
       Sequential Logic Design
              Clock Divider Circuitry
              Finite State Machines
              Timing Analysis of Sequential Logic Circuits
              Power Consumption Analysis of Sequential Logic Circuits
       Digital System Design Using Verilog
              Fundamentals of the Verilog Language
              Synthesizable Verilog
       Digital System Verification
              Verification Strategies
Testbench Architecture and Implementation
Fundamentals of the System Verilog Language for Verification
Verification Coverage Metrics
                                       career/new_hire_topics.txt · Last modified: 2010/12/07 16:58 by 198.61.71.67