GATE

Preparation Tips

GATE-2015 from the eyes of GATE-2014

Topper
Hi all,
This post is intended to provide some insight into the GATE-2015 EE exam which was
conducted on 7th February 2015. This year the exam was conducted by IIT Kanpur as most
of you may already know. The exam was conducted in two sessions one on 7th morning and
other on 7th evening. The general observation about the paper was that the level of paper
was a bit more difficult than last year. So, the cutoff is expected to be a bit lower than last
year and the ranks at same marks as last year are expected to be better. Now I will briefly
tell about the level of each paper:
Paper-1
This paper had even distribution of Numerical Aptitude and Verbal Aptitude in the Aptitude
Section. The questions except were one or two were of standard level. So it was expected
that a student can secure 8-10 marks easily in this section.
In 1 mark Technical Section 15 questions at-least were straight forward and rest of the
questions were either lengthy or non-trivial. Basic understanding was required to attempt
core questions as mostly the language had to be decoded and once that was done question
was straight forward. The surprising thing to me was that there were a few straight forward
theory questions and that too from the topics which most students neglect.
In 2 marks Technical Section 20 questions were based on straight concepts but many might
have committed errors due to exam pressure or not reading the question properly. Machines
had mostly DC Machines which had questions that looked tough on the outlook but once
you go through the question statement the solution was easy. The level of Power Systems
was a bit difficult as questions were mostly thinking based and non-trivial. What I felt while
solving the paper was that there were some questions that were out of my league also
(cannot say about you guys) so those questions even I would have probably left.
The paper was balanced among different subjects as you can see the pie-chart below so core
subjects were not as dominant as they were expected to be. But definitely core had some of
the most amazing questions that I have come across.

Session-1 Subject-wise Weightage

Session-2 Subject-wise Weightage

Paper-2
This paper also had even distribution of Numerical and Verbal Ability but some questions in
this section were really outstanding. Still I believe if carefully attempted 8-10 marks can be
scored in this section.
In 1 mark Technical Section 15 questions were very basic and required a straight and calm
head. the other questions did involve some tricks or were based on the concepts that
students mostly leave. Like I felt the questions based on Electric and Magnetic Fields
required understanding of the concepts studied in 12th and many graduate students do

forget those concepts. So they might have left those questions. But most of the questions
tested the very basic understanding of the concepts that students mostly lack in lieu of
solving more formula based questions. Machines had mostly DC Machines questions which
could be done if you read the question carefully and did not have any hidden tricks in them.
In 2 mark Technical Section again 20 questions were very basic and could be done if you do
it carefully and devote proper time to them. Again I liked the questions from Electric and
Magnetic Fields here and one or two question were like that did not click even which
chapter they were from. So I must say IIT Kanpur did keep the level of GATE exam pretty
good and did not fall into mediocrity of formula based questions. An unusual thing that I
noticed was the dominance of DC Machines in the paper though it is not the case mostly.
Overall, the two papers were very balanced and were identical in terms of level. But second
paper had more tricky problems but first one had some problems that most of the students
would leave directly. The trick to doing well in the exam would have been to attempt the
exam with a calm mind and trying to at least go through the entire paper once because
questions are in a different pattern for each student and you never know that easiest
question may be at last. But definitely the paper was better than last year so even if you guys
have not performed as per your expectations do not lose hope yet.
The keys and solutions to GATE-2015 paper will be uploaded soon so that you can calculate
your marks based on your responses. Rank Predictor will also be released soon so that you
can know based on your marks what rank you can expect.
So guys at last I would like to advice you all to move on now if you want to prepare for other
exams like BARC or ESE as there is no point being stuck waiting for GATE-15 results. Please
do share your GATE-15 experiences in the comments. Also, please share this post with
fellow students so that they can know the level of GATE-2015.

How to attempt GATE exam?

Hi Guys,
Now only a few days are left to the most important day in the life of a GATE Aspirant that is
the D-Day or the exam day. I know how much pressure each one of you must be feeling right
now as i have been through this phase twice. You have prepared for this exam day in and
day out and now is the time where you get the chance to test your preparation against some
of the brightest minds in the country. Through this post i would like to suggest few tips and
tricks that may help you on the exam day:
Stop Studying any new topic now as whatever you have studied till now is sufficient
and try to maximize the outcome from those topics. Learning a new topic now might make
you lose marks in the already covered topics.
Stop studying and revising anything 12 hours before the exam as that will only
unsettle your mind rather than helping you out in the exam.
Get a good night's sleep on the night before the exam and try to avoid distractions
like mobiles so that you sleep early and wake up afresh.
Try to stay away from all the negativity and negative people. It is not a problem if you
keep to yourself on the final day.
Keep your emotions in check on the exam day that is you should not feel excited or
nervous before or during the exam. That means you should even attempt all problems with a
calm mind even though you may have no idea about the problem or you may know the
solution beforehand. This is because the reason that many students do not achieve their
potential is not because they knew very less but rather because they couldn't do well in
whatever they knew.
Avoid eating heavy oily food on the night before the exam as a stomach upset can
hurt you badly on the exam day.
Have a light breakfast before the exam so that you do not feel sleepy during the
exam.

These are some of the points that can help you during the exam and let me now discuss the
strategy for attempting the exam. Some of the points that you must keep in mind while
attempting the exam are:
Attempt the exam with a calm head and don't judge the level of examination based
on just the level of first few questions as the questions afterwards may be on an entirely
different level than the first few ones.
Have a clear strategy in mind on how to attempt the exam. This strategy may be
different for different candidates and this is forged by attempting numerous mock tests. In
my case I attempted the exam in a serial manner that is I first attempted 1 mark technical
Section in about 45 mins, then I went on to attempt Aptitude Section in next 20 mins as that
helped me take my mind away from technical. This helped me refresh and then I attempted
2 mark technical Section and completed the exam in about 2.5 hours so that i was left with
ample time to revise the questions that i marked during first attempt.
Since the paper consists of 65 questions to be attempted in 180 minutes so don't be
in a hurry to attempt any question as calculations must be carefully checked specially in case
of Numerical Type Problems.
Don't devote too much time on a single problem otherwise you will be left with a lot
less time to attempt the rest of paper.
If you are not able to attempt many problems in technical section than better go and
attempt aptitude section as that will refresh your mind and relieve some pressure.
Try to finish first attempt with 2-2.5 hours so that you can go back and improve upon
your mistakes that you committed in first attempt. In my case i changed my response for 4-5
questions and that helped me avoid losing 5 marks at the least.
So guys at last i would like to summarize by saying that you should have faith in your
abilities as the pressure that you are feeling at this stage is being felt by candidates across
the country. So give your 100% and don't care about the rest as your efforts will not go in
vain.
All the Best to all GATE-2015 Aspirants!!!

Being Optimistic in last month before

GATE
Many students from all over the country are involved in the rat race to get into the IITs and
PSUs, which are believed to offer the best facilities to students and best career opportunities
for the future. This could well be true, as the IITs are the only Indian institutes among the
lot which are recognized all over the world and therefore it becomes the first choice for
many students here. Each year, about two lakh students from each stream apply for GATE,
which is considered to be the toughest exam conducted at this level due to the huge
competition faced by them. Thus, for clearing this exam, an optimistic approach during
preparation is very crucial.
Being Optimistic becomes much more crucial during this last month as this is the time
where you will see many aspirants giving up and thus wasting all the efforts that they have
put up till now. Many students usually quit and lower their aspirations due to the immense
amount of stress that they have to manage. The biggest stress that students face during this
time is how to revise such an enormous syllabus as many students have not yet completed
their course. My advise to all such GATE Aspirants is that now is not the time to study any
new topics as whatever is left should be left and focus should be on revising whatever is
completed till now. Also, one other most important thing during this last month is to have
faith in your abilities as many students around this time start doubting themselves. This
leads to wastage of precious time that could have been devoted towards GATE Preparation.
You must never think about the competition that you are going to face in the exam from
other aspirants but rather focus on improving your own performance. For this you need to
understand that you can do nothing about the competition and the only thing that you can
control is your own performance so try to make it better.

The students generally know their performance and standings as they have been tested
many times and so the result is already decide for most students even before the exam. The
ones who come out on the top are the students who did not give up till the end and
maintained a positive approach towards studies which enabled them to push themselves for
working hard.
For this, taking little breaks in between the routine when you believe that mind is getting

saturated might help greatly. So never focus on a single topic for too long as the chances of
saturation then increase and leads to a dip in your efficiency. Freshen up your mind from
time to time by following any hobby that you like and dont get into too much retrospection
in case of some bad results. But the main aim has to be kept in mind at all times and an
optimistic approach has to be adopted towards the same.
I hope that this new year brings lots of optimism in your approach towards GATE and you
all people perform to your full potential. If you feel motivated after reading this post do
remember to share it with your friends so that they can also give their preparation a final
thrust before exam.

Power Systems : The widest subject

Hi Guys,

Today I am here with a post that all of you have been waiting for as to how to study Power
Systems. In my personal opinion this is a subject which has the widest course and different
topics have different flavors like the approach in Fault Analysis is entirely different from the
approach in Transmission Lines.
Here, i will give only the insights as to what you should study for each topic and then we
have released K-Notes for quick revision of Power Systems and Kuestion to illustrate the
problem solving techniques that i will be talking about here.
The major topics in Power Systems can be listed as follows:
Transmission and Distribution
The first topic under this unit is overhead transmission lines and in this topic
first you need to memorize the expressions for Inductance and Capacitance for both Single
Phase and Three Phase Lines. So you should practice some problems based on this which
involve the computation of GMD and GMR.
The next topic that you should cover is modelling of Short and Medium
Transmission Lines as Long Transmission Lines is not much important in Steady State
Analysis and Short Transmission Line is most important.
Here you should also focus on the A,B,C,D Parameters of the line and the power expressions
in terms of A,B,C,D and remember the approximate voltage regulation in Short
Transmission Line which is same as Transformer.
The next topic under this unit is Surges and in that topic you need to
memorize the thevenin equivalent circuit for analysis of surges and by that you can easily
calculate the Transmission and Reflection Coefficient for Voltage and the coefficients for
currents are not important.
The other important topic is Voltage Control and Power Factor Correction
and both these concepts for Numericals involve a single approach which will be better
illustrated in kuestion but these two concepts are important as you can expect one of either
two topics in GATE exam.
The next topic is UG Cables and in UG Cables there are two important
concepts, one is the insulation resistance and other is the capacitance model for 3 phase 3
core belted cable which has core capacitance and sheath capacitance but question is rare
from this topic.
The other small topic under this unit is Overhead Insulator where only a
single problem based on voltage distribution across different discs can be asked and that
you can easily derive using KCL or remember the expression upto 3 discs.
The last topic is the Distribution Systems which also has a single type of
problem which involves just applying KVL and finding the currents in different branches.


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Load Flow Studies

In this unit you need to study about construction of Bus Admittance Matrix
and you can leave out the algorithm for construction of Bus Impedance Matrix.
But we need to study the fault Analysis by the use of Bus Impedance Matrix
which involves knowing that diagonal elements of the matrix represent thevenin
impedances at different buses.
The next thing that we need to remember is the order of Jacobian Matrix in
Newton-Raphson Load Flow Solution.
Also, there are some simple question where we need to find voltages and their
angles at different buses and those are the simplest questions as they just involve using KVL
between different buses and using power expression for Short Transmission Line and this
point will be more illustrated in Kuestion.
Economic Load Dispatch
In this topic you just need to study about the transmission loss coefficients
and penalty factor and then how to distribute load across various generating units based on
Incremental Cost and Penalty Factor.
Fault Analysis
Here we need to study about Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical faults and first
thing in case of Symmetrical faults is the transient and steady state component of fault
current and there you just need to memorize a single expression by which you can easily
derive the maximum momentary current as well.
Then in symmetrical fault analysis you need to solve problems where we find
the symmetrical SC currents by drawing the equivalent circuits and also problems where we
need to calculate the current limiting reactance.
One thing that you need to take care about is units as the answer may be given in pu or in
ohms so you need to take care else you can mark the incorrect answer.
The last thing about symmetrical faults is calculating the ratings of Circuit
Breakers based on Symmetrical fault Analysis like Momentary Current, Breaking Current
and Making Current.
Before going to Unsymmetrical Fault Analysis you need to study about
Symmetrical Components which involves just a small transformation matrix and about

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Sequence Networks in which zero sequence network for Transformers in most important
and can be asked directly in exam. This is explained in detail in K-Notes for Power Systems
which will be up soon.
In case of Unsymmetrical Fault Analysis we need to remember the equivalent
circuits for all three types of faults LG, LL and LLG Faults and how to calculate fault current
from sequence components.
Power System Stability
This is the smallest topic in Power Systems but still it is very important. Here
Steady State Stability is not Important but transient stability is and you need to remember
the two inertia constants "H" and "M" for that and the swing equation.
The next thing is that you need to remember the equivalent M and H when
there are two machines which are swinging coherently or in-coherently.
The last and most important topic is the equal area criteria for calculating the
critical clearing angle and i would recommend that you understand the method involved
instead of memorizing the expressions involved as that will reduce the chances of error.
Power System Protection
This is most rarely asked topic and is widest of all the units but now since
exams are happening in multiple sessions so we can expect one question at least in one of
the sets.
The only numerical part in this unit is concentrated around Plug Setting
Multiplier(PSM) and the differential relay so you need to be clear on both the aspects and
practice a few problems based on these two concepts.
Other than that for theoretical purposes you can remember the usage of some
general relays like Distance Relays types and which type is used where and also the types of
relays used in Transformers like Buchholz Relay.

Digital Electronics: The most scoring

subject
Hi Guys,
Here i am back with one last Subject Related Post for Electrical Engineers and today we
have with us Kuldeep Kaushik who cleared GATE-2014 with AIR-6 and is very enthusiastic
to help out the GATE Aspirants. So here is what he has to offer for Digital Electronics:
Digital Electronics is considered to be the simplest subject of all, and yes it is.
This subject has full potential to fetch you 100% marks from this area provided
you
give
it
required
practice
.
Let
us
take
it
topicwise.
Logic
Gates
Start from basics. practice truth tables of all gates and make logic circuits for
functions. Try to minimize number of gates to implement given function. Practice
from Kanodia. Refer Morris Mano for this part. Study about 3 input Ex-OR and ExNOR gate and also study NAND and NOR implementation of all gates.
Minimization Techniques
Boolean Algebraic rules are too simple. DO practice K-Map as it is very essential topic. All
Digital Electronic revolves around it. So first you need to clear basics of minterms and
maxterms. How things unfolds if we loop zeroes in K-Map? We can invert a function using
K-Map. So simply make fool proof command over it. You will require it in counters also.
Quine Maccluskey method is not important. For practice go to Kanodia, Morris Mano and
coaching booklets.

Combinational Circuit
Basic concepts regarding adders, subtractors and comparator should be
studied. Remember carry and output expression of this to make things easy as
sometimes they may ask which combinational ckt this calculated expression
represent?.
Multiplexer is very important. A function can be implemented by 4
selector switch MUX, 3 selector switch MUX and even with 2 selector switch with
different input combination. Practice K map thoroughly to make command over
MUX. Emphasis should be given to understand the internal logic circuit of MUX,
Encoder, Decoder etc. Practice from Kanodia, Coaching Workbook, Tocci Widmer
is good to cover this topic.
Sequential Circuits
Tough Part of Digital Electronics!!! No friends, it is not tough in real. This
zone is ready to give away number provided only enough practice and yes NO
DOUBTS!!!! Enter in this zone after mastering combinational circuit coz you
know we will add memory to make combinational Circuit sequential. S-R, D, T
and JK flip flop are core of this chapter. These counter with specific input
combination give dont care. Make concepts clear pertaining to that. Always
solve question by making present state- next state table of flip flop, you should
not use its characteristic equation directly as it involves looping of dont cares
which may provide you with wrong solution and be sure it will be one of the
option in Exam. Practice how to convert one flip flop in other. Synchronous
counters, ripple counter, johnson counter all are easy. Design these counters by
hand.Dont think why to design for objective paper. It will be helpful. Let me
assure you. Make table of which type of counter affect frequency of input in
which way.
Practice how to calculate MOD number of given counter. Lock-out
phenomenon is important. Master Slave relay is also imp. Keep concepts clear
regarding Race around condition. I recommend Tocci Widmer for this part. Solve
Kanodia for practice.
Logic Family
Question are rare from this part in gate, but bad luck will knock the door without
any warning. So prepare this part also. Learn how transistor make logic circuits.
We can implement every function with diode and transistors. Remember some
standard representations. Remember some theoretical points like which family
has highest fanout, lowest noise margin etc.
With this I end my description of study pattern for Digital Electronics. Thumb
Rule for GATE is Area where you have doubt , believe next exam will have
question from there. I wish you all the best. Do honest efforts and rest leave to
God. I wish you pass with flying colors.

A measured approach towards

Measurement

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Hi Guys,
I am back with a new Subject Related post and this time we will deal with a subject that
most of the Electrical Engineers neglect and do not give the due importance. The one
mistake that everyone does is not realizing that this subject has got a good weight-age of
around 6-8 marks in the GATE exam. So guys my first recommendation will be to not
neglect this subject as this is narrow and easy as well so spare at least one week for its
preparation also.
The books that can be referred for this subject are "Electrical Measurement and
Instrumentation by AK Sawhney" but i still would not recommend using a book as that book
is very vast and still if you want to read the book then you can better highlight the topics
that need to be read from each chapter.
This subject includes the following topics:
Measurement and Error
This chapter includes basic error analysis in terms of Guaranteed Accuracy
Error, Limiting Errors for various arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction etc and
also errors in terms of Standard Deviations so here this much is sufficient and no need to
study the Standards of Length and time as those are not required for GATE.
Electro-mechanical Instruments
This is the most important topic from this subject.
The basic principle of instruments and the expressions for deflecting torque
in various instruments like PMMC, Moving Iron and Dynamometer type Instruments is the
most important topic in this chapter.
Always remember that PMMC measures average value of output and other
two measure the RMS values.
The applications of PMMC like ammeter, voltmeter and rectifier type
instruments are also important and range extension of these instruments is the most
important using Shunt and Series Resistances.
In Dynamometer the most important application is the wattmeter and for that
you need to be clear with the three phase circuits phasor diagram as if you know the phasors
well then you do need to remember any formulas and you can easily crack the non standard
cases as well. Also remember the formula for calculating the power factor angle in case of
two wattmeter method as that is most commonly asked.

Energy meter is the next important instrument and here the only important
concept is the error in reading and that can be computed using the energy constant, other
than that the working principle and other things are not that important from GATE
perspective.
o
Electrostatic and Thermal instruments are not that important but try to
remember the expressions for deflecting torques for both these instruments.
o

Instrument Transformers
The current Transformer is important from here though not many questions
are asked but this is relatively simple as we just need to study about the ration and phase
angle error and since the equivalent circuit is same as the Transformers from Electrical
Machines this can be easily understood.

Bridges
o
The Inductance and Capacitance Measurement come under the AC Bridges
and these are very simple as they are just based on a simple phenomenon that product of
impedances in opposite branches are equal. This concept can be applied to simple bridges
like Maxwell,s Inductance Bridge, Maxwell's LC Bridge and Owen's Bridge but still
expressions must be remembered for Hay's Bridge and Anderson's Bridge as they are not
that easy to derive.
o
The Capacitance Measurement bridges include De Sauty and Schering Bridge
and those are also simple but one thing must be remembered in all bridges is the circuit of
each bridge against its name.
o
The last is Wien Bridge Oscillator for measurement of Frequency.

Measurement of Resistance
Wheatstone Bridge is the most important from this topic and mostly
questions are based on the condition when bridge is unbalanced and we need to find the
voltage across the detector.
o
Other methods include Kelvin's Double Bridge, Voltmeter-Ammeter Method,
Ohmmeter, Carey-Foster Slide Wire Bridge.

Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (CRO)

This is second most important topic from this subject.

The first and most important thing in this topic is to remember the purpose of
each and every part in the functionality of CRO like Horizontal Deflection Plates, Vertical
Deflection Plates etc.
o
The other important thing is the Lissajous Figure and calculating ration of
frequency of x and y signal from the figure, calculating phase difference between the signals.

Digital Meters
o
In this topic all type of ADC must be studied but they are also covered under
Digital Electronics and other than that parameters of Digital Instruments like Resolution etc
must be studied and those are more important but this topic is not very important from
GATE perspective.
o
o

Power Electronics: Nightmare for

Electrical Engineers
Hi Guys,
After many Electrical Engineers requesting for a post on Power Electronics,
finally we are here with a post on How to tackle Power Electronics for GATE in a
most efficient way. This subject is a kind of nightmare for most Electrical
Engineers including myself and so i was looking to get you guys an expert who
handled this subject exceptionally well.
So, this time we have with us Santhosh Kumar Pabbineedi who appreared for
GATE-2014 and secured an AIR-141 and has been guiding young GATE Aspirants
ever since. So guys, here is what he has convey to you guys regarding Power
Electronics:
Now a days I am able to see a few seniors who got good rank in GATE-14 guiding
future aspirants. Most of the people attend coaching in various coaching
institutes which a act as a bridge between students and textbooks. As they
explain not only the concepts but also the exception cases for every concept
with which it is easy to answer a question. This method works in almost all
cases, for an example in Power Electronics , in case of rectifier with R-load for
any firing angle we never get negative average output. You will not find this
direct statement in any text book but it is pretty much used while solving
problems. 99% of the people never solve unsolved exercises of any text book
which are very important. Now I will explain you how to get good grip on Power
Electronics.

First of all be clear with the fact that in power electronics we have to deal with a
few concepts only. It has pretty less syllabus as compared to other subjects and
has got good weightage. In this study plan I strictly suggest you to own the

following text books. PS Bimbhra , Rashid and Power Electronics pdf notes which
is available in NPTEL website.
Power Electronic Devices:
For Basic operation of various devices follow Bimbhra as their operating
characteristics are well explained in it. I still remember the diode problems one
must solve before going to thyristor circuits are there in front pages
of Bimbhra & they will explain you how a thyristor will work if it gets a continues
gate signal or no gate signal. In a page range 30-70 of Bimbhra you will observe
that there were some direct gate questions based on diode.
Phase Controlled Converters:
For rectifiers. Bimbhra is more than sufficient and one must be cautious about
Fourier analysis of every rectifier. Understand the difference between ripple-free
load and normal load. 90% of questions will be based on ripple-free load and in
that case if you have all the formulae on finger tips , you can fetch maximum
marks. Coming to battery charging problems in rectifiers go through the NPTEL
notes & few problems are also there in text book.
Choppers:
For Choppers. Dont Follow Bimbhra . I will explain you why. In case of problems
which need attention towards inductor operation. More than the mere formulas
we need basic concepts to answer the question. In GATE-14 first session there
was a question on ripple current in some chopper , the formula mentioned in
Bimbhra is (Vs/(4fL)) , if you apply this you will get an answer but its wrong. In a
article I cannot tell you the reason but it must be solved by using basic
kirchoff law , which is well explained in Rashid. In Rashid you will find KVL
approach to solve almost all equations which I feel very interesting and straight
forward but for Fourier analysis follow Bimbhra.
Inverters and Commutation:
For Inverters and Commutation circuits Bimbhra is good. For Inverters also the
Fourier analysis is important. Operation is well explained in that and most of the
questions are repetitive in nature in gate. Small concepts like PWM methods
might be confusing but at maximum you need 5 hours to get a grip on them.
There are various methods to solve a single question in inverters which you'll
know by practising .
Cyclo Converters and AC Voltage Regulators:
Cyclo-Converters & AC voltage regulator are a combination of Rectifers and
Inverters and very less questions will be asked in that area.
For those who feel Power Electronics as tough. 10-12 Days of first time
preparation and two revisions i suggest you before giving gate. Practice as many
as problems. Go for discussions. While solving a problem you may see some
option as fitting your calculations and you may be tempted to go for it to save
time but please do not do that.

Analog Circuits: An uphill battle for

Electrical Engineers
Hi Guys,
Thanks for appreciating the effort that we put in and thanks for being patient for the next
post so here
I am with a new subject related post and this time it won't be me that will be guiding you but
rather another GATE Topper, Arpit Srivastava (AIR-7, GATE-2014 EE).
This time we'll be dealing with the most daunting topic for Electrical Engineers "Analog
Circuits" as rarely Electrical Engineers are interested in this topic. But still it is one of the
most important subject for GATE exam and you must fully prepared to tackle it. So let us
see what Arpit has to say about Analog Electronics.
Analog circuit has its roots in electronics generally electrical people used to leave this topic.
It seems very hard subject. But by learning few topics you can overcome apprehension of
this subject. As far as gate is concerned, there is no need of through out knowledge of
Electronics Devices.
Electrical engineers can leave Electronic Devices for gate but basic working principles of
devices (Diode, BJT, MOSFET, FET) are necessary. You need to know about various
terminals and direction of current Flow and applied terminal voltage for different modes of
operation. The following topics are included in Analog Circuits:

Diodes Circuits
It is very important topic for Gate exam. Clipper should be practiced
thoroughly. You can practice various Diode circuits from kanodia book and any reference

book.Thermal effect on Diode can be left as it is an unimportant topic. Also general circuits
where we need to judge the state of multiple diodes in a single circuit is important and
should be practiced.

Biasing and amplifiers

You should know about biasing concepts like finding the Q-Point or Operating
point in a circuit for the purpose of DC Analysis. After learning biasing, concept of amplifier
is important. There are many models to solve amplifier problems. But re model is simple
to learn. In GATE exam they ask question only from this model. Also you may be asked
about different components in the small signal model like Trans-conductance etc and these
parameters can be directly from the DC Analysis.
By practicing some question you can master it. BJT amplifier are more
important than FET and MOSFET.
Power Amplifier
For Electrical GATE paper you need not worry about this topic and it can be
left out.
Feedback Amplifier
In gate exam detailed questions are not asked in this topic. But you should be
aware about various topology and its effect on output and input impedances, gain, noise,
distortion.You can leave cascade amplifer for GATE exam.
Operational amplifier
Concept of Operational Amplifer starts with differential amplifier and its
various definition like CMRR, slew rate input biasing current etc. Out of these CMRR and
slew rate is important.
Most of the questions are asked from basic op amp topology. You can solve
them by just applying network theory and mostly centered around the concept of Virtual
Ground. These are simple and mostly asked in gate exam. You should also be aware of

various Filter Designs as well as they can asked in Control Systems or Network Theory as
well.
o
Also, you should be clear with analysis of Schmitt Trigger as that is one of the
most important topic in GATE.

555 Timer
o
This is not very much important for electrical guys.
Overall you can score 3 to 6 marks in this subject easily but just studying few topic. diode
and op amp circuit are most simple and important part of this ocean size subject. So guys
Analog Electronics is not as daunting from inside as it looks from the outside.
About The Author:
Arpit Srivastava graduated from MITS Gwalior in 2014 in EE Stream and cleared GATE
with AIR-7 in 2014. At present he is working in IOCL as an Operation Officer.
So if you guys wish to get in touch with him regarding your preparation do let us know. Also
please share this article with your friends who are also fussing about Analog Electronics so
that these misconceptions can be cleared soon.

Electrical Machines Demystified

Hi Guys,
I am back with a new post on subject related tips and this time we will cover the most
dreaded topic for Electrical Engineers. Believe me guys by the end of this post you will see
that for GATE exam you can cover the machines course in the least possible time.
Electrical Machines is the most important topic for Electrical Engineers not only from GATE
perspective but also for understanding as you are not a complete Electrical Engineer unless
you have a good grasp of Machines concepts. In GATE exam if they focus on core subjects
then Machines will easily have weight-age of more than 10 marks. The problem with
machines is not the complexity of concepts but rather the impact of the problem on one's
mind. People usually presume that machines' question would be tough and this
presumption is based on the language of the question generally which is more complex than
the question itself.
First we will cover each topic and the concepts required for GATE from that topic and then i
will tell you some problem solving tips:
Transformers
The important concepts from GATE perspective are equivalent circuit of Transformer and
the concepts of Voltage Regulation and efficiency. Generally the biggest confusion in the
Voltage Regulation Concepts is whether it should be calculated with respect to No-load
Voltage or Full-Load Voltage, i would suggest that you calculate both as either of them may

be used and you mark the option based on that but if question is numerical type we
generally calculate with respect to rated voltage.
Also, one of the most commonly asked concepts is the core losses which are Hysteresis and
Eddy Current Losses so practice few problems on that where we are given total core losses
and we need to calculate individual Hysteresis and Eddy Current Losses.
In case of three phase transformers, if you can understand the phasor diagrams and naming
then it is very good else you can leave that as question is very rarely asked but you need to
practice numericals based on three phase transformers. The next concept is the autotransformer which i believe is the easiest as entire question just depends on the ratio of low
voltage to high voltage rating of auto-transformer and we can scale each and every quantity
of two winding transformer based on that.
So totally we have to remember 4-5 concepts for Transformers.
DC Machines
This Chapter totally revolves around 4 equations which are two performance equations one
each for generator and motor and the expressions for Torque and EMF. The most
commonly asked questions are based on speed control of DC Motor and we must always
remember that whenever we want to calculate speed we need to calculate the back emf and
then take the ratio of two emfs to compute the ratio of two speeds.
But the complication arise when this question is based on DC Drives and either the speed is
controlled via rectifier or an chopper so for that you need to remember the final expression
for each type of rectifier and also buck-converter and if you can do that then the problem is
merely reduced to playing along with 4-5 equations.
Synchronous Machines
The first concept in this chapter that you need to remember is the pitch factor and
distribution factor as sometimes questions may be asked on the ratio of emfs induced when
a 3-phase winding is re-wounded as a single phase and the ratio of KVA Rating of the two
winding.
Also we must remember the concept of Armature Reaction that whether this effect is
magnetizing, de-magnetizing or cross-magnetizing based on the power factor at which the
machine operates. The next concept is that of Synchronous Impedance that comes from
Open Circuit Characteristics and Short Circuit Characteristics.
Other than that this chapter is mostly based on two equations which are Power-Angle
Equation and the emf-terminal voltage relation which comes from equivalent circuit of the
machine and you need to solve these two equation to calculate any parameter that is asked.
Sometimes, question may be asked based on the torque angle of a Salient-Pole Machine so
we need to remember a direct formula for that and the last concept is power-factor
correction using Synchronous Motor.

Induction Machines
This is the only machine whose functioning you need to understand well as mostly the
questions are based upon the concept of slip and for that you need to understand various
things like speed of rotor and speed of rotor magnetic field and stuff like that. The new
concept that is now a days appearing and is non-trivial is the concept of Inverted Induction
Motor where supply is connected to the rotor and stator terminals are connected to load
there also you need to understand the speeds of all field and rotor speed also.
Equivalent Circuit is not much important here.Probably the most important concept in this
chapter is the torque-slip characteristics and conditions for maximum toque and starting
torque and question may be based on ratio of these. Also remember the formulas for AirGap Power and rotor copper loss.
The last concept is the starting of Induction Motor by Auto-Transformer or Star-Delta
Starter whcih you need to study. Here also question may be based on AC Drives and control
of Induction Motor by an inverter with constant V/f control so do practice some problems
like that as well.
This is the topic from which will have highest weight-age among all machines.
Important Note
Please understand the power-flow diagram for each machine as that will be used for
calculating efficiency and the concepts for Single Phase Induction Motor and other special
Machines are not much important but you can remember the step size for stepper motor.
Problem-Solving Tips
Practice more and more problem to develop the skill where while reading the problem you
will easily understand the equations that will be involved while solving the problems. Also
before solving any problem you need to devote 30 seconds to carefully read and understand
the problem as most of the time mistake is committed due to not reading the question
properly.

How to Study Control Systems?

Hi Guys,
Sorry for being so late on the next post but better late than never so here I am
with new subject related tips about Control Systems as from my experience I
believe that this subject has been consistent over the years. The problems that
appear in GATE from this topic are little bit application focused and also involve
some small tricks which you will eventually learn as you will solve more and
more problems.

Also, there are numerous interesting real life applications of Control Systems
which make this topic all the more wonderful. Around us we see many systems
operating in our everyday life and we can treat every system as a control
system though it may be manual or automatic. Even human body itself can be
treated as a control system with brain acting as controller or processor and cocoordinating the actions of different body parts based on response delivered to
the brain by different senses.
Thus by seeing the practical applications of this subject you can be much more
involved and can easily generate interest which you may otherwise lack. So the
key to this kind of subject is to learn practical applications side by side or else
these subjects can become very monotonous.
Now I will treat this subject topic by topic and will try to highlight the relevant
and irrelevant portions in each topic so that you can concentrate more on
relevant topics and can cover up the course quickly as now even less than 6
months are left for GATE. The following topics are included in GATE curriculum:

Transfer Functions
Basically in this topic we need to learn about Block Diagram Reduction
Technique and simple equivalent Transfer Functions for both positive and
negative feedback. This topic is very basic and very much necessary as all
advanced topics lay their foundation here and strong foundations are the core of
every successful student. Next thing that comes in this topic is Signal Flow
Graphs and Mason's Gain Formula as these concepts may sometimes simplify
the effort if you have to calculate equivalent transfer function as block diagram
technique may sometimes be very lengthy.
Time Domain Analysis
This topic is basically very easy and mostly formula based as we need to learn
the formulas for various time domain parameters like Rise Time, Maximum
Overshoot, Settling Time, Peak Time and also various error coefficients like

Position Error Coefficient, Velocity Error Coefficient and Acceleration Error

Coefficient but the mistake that many people do is that they directly tend to use
these concepts without considering the effect of Non-Unity Feedback Systems.
For Non-Unity Feedback Systems we need to compute equivalent Forward Path
Transfer Function and then use these concepts.
Stability
This topic is very simple and very critical as well as most of the time questions
can be framed from this topic. The only concept that needs to be studied here is
the Routh Stability Criterion and also keep in mind the special cases for Routh
Criterion. The special cases include when the entire row goes to zero or the first
element of the row is zero.
Root-Locus Technique
In this topic basically we need to learn about drawing root-locus and general
properties associated with it like number of asymptotes, angle of asymptotes,
centroid, break-away and break-in points. The one most important point to
remember is the change in root-locus properties when positive feedback is
applied instead of negative feedback as there is one question in Kanodia Book
about this which I usually did wrong. This year question on same concept came
in GATE exam but since i remembered it this time so it did it correctly.
Frequency Domain Analysis
In this topic many small formulas like Resonant Frequency, Resonant Peak and
Bandwidth are important and apart from that the concept of Nyquist Criterion is
important and here we need to learn small Nyquist Plots for simple function and
how do they change once you add zeroes and poles as sometimes if you can
draw Nyquist Plot you may directly be able to judge the stability of the system.
The other concepts that can be frequently seen in GATE exam from this topic is
Gain and Phase Margin. The last topic that is covered here and is relevant for
GATE exam is Bode Plots and here you need to learn how to draw asymptotic
Bode Plots and slope of each asymptote as even this year there was a question
on Bode Plots.
State-Space Analysis
This topic mostly contains concepts that we study in Linear Algebra but we need
to learn about State Transition Matrix and its relation with Transfer Function and
also the solution of State Space Equation by the use of State Transition Matrix.
The concepts of Controllability and Observability are also very important and
you must judge these aspects of a Control System by the use of Controllability
and Observability Matrices.
Compensators
Here we just need to learn the condition for maximum phase shift for both Lead
and Lag Compensators and also electrical circuit implementation of both.
For short notes of Control Systems and other topics please visit:
http://www.kreatryx.com/

So, these are the topics that I feel are relevant for GATE in Control Systems and
if you feel that I have missed something you can mention it in the comments or
mail me your query using "Contact Me" form in my blog.
Was this article helpful to you? If so, please share it with your friends and
colleagues so that they can also benefit.

How to Study Signals and Systems?

Hi Guys,
I am back here with more Subject-Related Tips and this time we shall be dealing with
Signals and Systems as to what all topics are important and how to approach each of these
topics.
Signals and Systems is one of the most important topics in both EEE and ECE GATE exams
as it always has a consistently good weightage and also because of simple and very less
number of topics in Signals and Systems, this can easily be converted to one of the most
scoring topics in GATE. Also the problems from Signals and Systems are not very much
tricky and mostly all are straight forward.
The best way to prepare for Signals and Systems is to filter out the necessary information
and make very short notes like we have put up on our website for Engineering Mathematics
and soon we will be uploading for Signals and Systems as well, so if you haven't yet
downloaded please go and visit:
http://www.kreatryx.com/
For problem solving, again i will refer to GATE Electrical or GATE EC by RK Kanodia.

Now coming to the topics that are covered in Signals and Systems, the following topics
constitute Signals and Systems curriculum:

Continuous and Discrete Time Signals

This topic is not very important for GATE and we just need to study here the impact of
shifting and scaling operations on the waveform of the signals, it may be continuous and
discrete and you can easily find several examples of these sort of operations on signals in
Oppenheim book.
One more thing that is covered here is the classifications of signals based on different
criteria like:
o
Periodic and Aperiodic Signal
o
Even and Odd Signal
o
Power and Energy Signals
So the classification criterion needs to be carefully studied as it is a small concept but can be
directly asked.

Linear Time Invariant Systems

This probably is the most important part in Signals and Systems as all the systems are
studied here only and the most important concept here is that of impulse response and
Convolution. The impulse response is useful when there is a connection of more than one
systems may be in cascade configuration or parallel one but we need to remember what will
be the equivalent impulse response of entire system.
Also convolution methodology needs to be remembered though one can argue that we can
take some transform like Laplace Transform and multiply two such transforms and take he
inverse to find the output of the system and thus avoiding the convolution altogether but
reality is that this process is time consuming and by the help of convolution we can compute
output at some points only and verify with the options given and save time.
The next important thing the properties of Systems like Causality, Time-Invariance,
Stability, Linearity and we need to study the criterion to determine each of these properties
for a system because many times we may be given a system and asked which of these
properties does that particular system exhibit.

Fourier Series
Basically there are two types of Fourier Series and Transforms as one exists for Continuous
Time Signals and other for Discrete Time Signals and both are very similar but for EEE
GATE course discrete time Fourier Series is not included and hence they only need to
prepare only continuous time fourier series.
The approach towards preparing any transform and any series is to two prong approach that
is you need to remember two things or rather three things which are:
o
Analysis and Synthesis Equations
o
Properties of Transforms
o
Common Transform Pairs
The thing with the GATE exam is most of the questions are directly based upon the
properties of transforms and if you will calculate them completely, a lot of time will be
wasted and if you apply some property, it may be done in a short time but to apply
properties you need to remember some transform pairs so that you can represent a signal in
terms of some known signal and apply a property, so try to prepare all the transforms in this
fashion only.

Fourier Transform
Here also the approach remains same and we just need to remember that Fourier
Transform exists for Aperiodic Signals and Fourier Series for Periodic Signals and Fourier
Transform approaches Fourier Series for periodic Signals.
Also there is one very important duality that a signal discrete in one domain is periodic in
other and vice versa so a periodic signal in time domain is discrete in frequency domain
which means fourier series exists as fourier series exists only for periodic signals and that
too provided Drichlet Conditions are satisfied.
Also, one more important thing is the fourier transform of rectangular and triangular
functions and the converse also which can easily be computed by duality property.

Laplace Transform
Laplace Transforms only exist for Continuous Time signals and is the most important
transform as it is used in Engineering Mathematics and Control Systems as well and the
only additional thing that comes here is the concept of Region of Convergence (ROC) as the
same transform may have different inverses based on different ROCs. So please remember
no Laplace Transform is complete without ROC and rest of the approach remains same as
we need to follow three pronged approach.

One more thing that is introduced here is the concept of Initial Value and Final Value
Theorem and one must always remember that final value only exists subject to the condition
that the system is stable and sometime students may be fooled by this, so before applying
final value theorem, please verify the stability.
Z-Transform
Z-Transform is the analogue of Fourier Transform but for the discrete time signals and
hence the properties are very similar but there are some striking differences also like in case
of Final Value Theorem so such differences must be clearly remembered but rest of the
things and even concept of ROC remains the same.
One thing to be noticed in Laplace and Z Transform is the concept of Stability and Causality
as sometimes that may come in handy if pole-zero plot is given and system properties need
to be identified.
Sampling
The only important concept in Sampling is for the Nyquist Rate and Nyquist Frequency and
you must practice drawing one or two waveforms where sampling frequency is less than
Nyquist Frequency and that will result in aliasing as sometimes waveforms ma also be asked
and you may come across many weird kind of problems in RK Kanodia specially in this
topic, please ignore them as they are not important for GATE but please also read about
Band-Pass Sampling Theorem as that may also be asked.

How to study Network Theory? Part-1

Hello Dear Readers,
Thanks for following my blog closely and I apologize for not putting up this post soon
enough and to keep you waiting. So, here I am with the next post in the series of subjectwise posts on preparation tips and here I will provide some topic wise important concepts
that are most essential for GATE exam.
Network Theory is one of the most consistent subjects in EC and EE GATE papers and
mostly the problems are not very much tricky but rather simple and hence it becomes a
scoring topic and so mistakes must be avoided as they can have immense negative impact
on your GATE Score.
What I have observed during my preparation twice is that un-necessary information is
provided in most of the coaching institutes modules which is not at all important for GATE
exam. Most of the topics in EC and EE curriculum for the Network Theory is same except
the Three Phase Circuits and field theory which are additional topics in EE curriculum. This
post can be very lengthy and hence I have divided it into two parts : the first part containing
the common topics and second for additional topics in EE curriculum.

Network Theory is a problem-based subject where mostly practicing the problems is much
more important than reading the theory and hence for studying the concepts any book can
be followed or else you can download pdf notes from NPTEL and lastly you can download
short notes for Network Theory from our below mentioned website and the notes will be
uploaded soon as short notes are helpful at the final stages of the preparation.
www.kreatryx.com
For Problem Solving, I believe GATE Electrical or GATE EC by RK Kanodia is sufficient and
the problems are same in both.
The following topics are part of Network Theory:
Graph Theory

The questions from this topic in GATE are very rare but still this topic should be prepared
for the sake of completeness. Here small topics are very much important like the number of
trees possible for a given network but the concepts like Incidence, Cut-Set and Tie-Set
Matrix are not very much important but still should be once looked at as there is no harm.
Also, different terminology should be remembered like twigs, links etc.
Solution Methods
The solution methods listed are Nodal and Mesh Analysis and the usage as to where to use
which method is something that you will get by practice as using the appropriate method
will lessen the effort and save you a lot of valuable time.
Network Theorems
For GATE, the names of theorems are not very much important but for IES they can come in
handy for Objective Paper. So, it is better to remember the name and usage of theorems and
the most important theorems are Thevenin and Norton Theorem as sometimes the
equivalent circuit can be directly asked, other than that theorems like Superposition,
Tellegens theorem are not very important.
Here, Star-Delta Transformation is important as it can be used with other subjects as like
Electrical guys can use the same for Transient Stability Analysis for Fault away from line
ends in Power Systems and Maximum Power Transfer Theorem is also important but there
is one trick involved there as well as maximum power to load can be when internal
resistance is zero if allowed, so that case must also be verified.
Steady-State Sinusoidal Analysis
The most important concept under this topic is the concept of Phasors which I believe
comes more naturally for Electrical guys as they encounter Phasors more often in Electrical
Machines and Power Systems. This is important as it reduces the effort immensely for
solving an AC Network and also for this topic, you need to learn to use the calculator in
Complex mode and do calculations in Phasor terms as that will ease the calculations and
make them more accurate. The concept of Resonance is also very important under this topic
and the key to that is just to equate the imaginary part of Impedance and Admittance to zero
based on the case under consideration.
Transient Analysis
The transient response for general circuits like RC and RL circuits should be directly
remembered in terms of initial and final conditions as that will save you a lot of time and
can be used many places else like Chopper circuits in Power Electronics for EE Guys. Other
than that there is not much but you should always try to solve one or two problems
completely by forming the differential equations and solving them so that you can always
handle the non-standard cases.
Circuit Analysis using Laplace Transform
This topic is important as this comes in handy even for Control Systems also and here the
important thing to remember is to include the initial conditions in the models for Inductor
and Capacitor in the s-domain and also you need to remember some common Laplace
Transforms which you may do anyways in Signals and Systems.
State Equations for Networks
The important thing to learn in this topic is to define the state variables as sometimes you
may define more than required and even this topic is common with the Control Systems.
2-Port Networks

Here the important parameters are Z-parameters, Y-parameters, H-parameters and

Transmission Parameters and you need to memorize the conditions for Symmetry and
Reciprocity in terms of various parameters. Also, one more thing is important here as to
what parameters are added or multiplied for different network configurations like Cascaded
Connection, Parallel Connection and others. To find these parameters you just need to
remember the Network Equations for various parameters and then decide which quantity
should be equated to zero to find a particular parameter which avoids the need to memorize
the formulas for these parameters.

How to Study Network Theory? Part-2

Hi Guys,
I hope that last post helped you in developing your preparation strategy for Network
Theory, this post is in continuation to the last post and is targeted towards the topics that
are a part of EE curriculum but not included in ECE curriculum.
The following topics will be covered in this post:
Three Phase Circuits
Three Phase Circuits come more naturally to EE guys as they have to deal with three-phase
circuits in Electrical Machines and Power Systems, so in Network Theory only the basics of
those are covered and the thing to be remembered is the relationships between Phase and
Line quantities (Voltage and Current) for both Star and Delta Connections.
These relationships are very handy as they can be used directly for balanced 3-phase circuits
and unbalanced circuits will be solved completely step-by-step as there are no direct
relations but the questions from this topic are very rare.

 Electric and Magnetic Fields

The question from this topic is quite common and the most important thing in this topic is
to remember the Maxwells Equations in differential form for both Electric and Magnetic
Fields as sometimes you may be asked to verify whether a given function can represent a
Magnetic Field or an Electric Field.
Also the concepts covered in Class-XII like Amperes Law, Gausss Law in integral form
should also be remembered and some formulae for Electrical potential and Fields due to
standard charge distributions should be remembered.
Also since Maxwells Equations use the concepts of Divergence and Curl so you must try to
remember the formulas for these in Cartesian, Cylindrical and Spherical Co-ordinates,
though it may not be used but it is always better to be safe than sorry.

How to Study Engineering Mathematics

for GATE?
Hello Readers,
From now on, i will be sharing the subject-wise preparation tips, so the first subject that
we'll be taking up in this post is Engineering Mathematics.
Engineering Mathematics is very much relevant to the GATE exam as the weight-age given
to this subject is consistent over the years whereas other subjects may not be that consistent.
Every year you can find the weight-age of this subject to be 8 to 10 Marks.
Engineering Mathematics is a subject that has a very wide course as this course during the
college days is covered in 4 to 5 semesters and to prepare it completely at one time is
overwhelming. So the key to prepare for such subjects is to keep short notes handy with you
or maybe you can have a sort of Formula Sheet so that you can look up to a concept
whenever you need it.

Linear Algebra
While preparing for Linear Algebra, focus must be on Eigenvalue Problems
and also the Matrix algebra as almost every-time there will be a question from either of
these two topics. One must also remember the properties of eigenvalues like the relation
between eigenvalues of two matrices which are inverse of each other and other similar
properties.No need to get involved in the basis vectors and span of basis vectors to form an
n-dimensional space as those concepts are absolutely unnecessary for GATE.

Calculus
o
For single variable calculus there are not many problems except the maxima
and minima problems and the most important topic is vector calculus involving Gradient,
Divergence and Curl and Vector Integral Theorems (Green's, Gauss's and Stokes Theorem)
as there are lot many properties of each concept and you must remember all those to solve
the problems faster like divergence of curl is always zero, believe me that these properties do
come-in handy in the exam.

Differential Equations
o
There are not many concepts in the differential equations as you can always
check the solution by satisfying each option in the differential equation given in the problem
statement but at the same time do remembersome special differential equations like
Bernoulli's Equation and Euler Differential Equation.

Complex Functions
o
It is smallest topic among all topics from Engineering Mathematics and the
only important concepts are Cauchy-Riemann Equations for Analytic Functions and
Residue Method of Integration and rest of the topics are not necessary for GATE.

Probability and Statistics

The general problems involving Probability can be prepped up by practice and
there is no need to study much about them but you can always remember Baye's Theorem,
more focus should be on Random Variables like Poisson's Distribution and other
distributions. Statistics is also very important and you must remember mean,median and
mode concepts as well as coefficient of co-relation, so do make short notes for each of these
concepts

Numerical Methods
o
Two things are important in this section one is the equation solving by
methods like Newton-Raphson and Bisection Method and other is the Numerical
Integration technique by methods like Trapezoidal Rule and Simpson's rule so do mug up
the formulas for each of these methods and make good use of Calculator like you can form
equations in form of answer of previous step so that recursion becomes faster and more
accurate.
So basically the key to tackle such a large subject is to narrow down the course content to
the most relevant topics and cut-out the unnecessary topics otherwise your workload will
increase but not your performance.