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