Board-level hardware interview prep
Power, analog, signal integrity and PCB. Not RTL.
Electrical engineering interview questions by topic
Buck and boost, inductors, loops, protection.
Op-amp rules, noise, TIAs, real-part limits.
Transmission lines, reflections, crosstalk, loss.
Decoupling, target impedance, ground bounce.
Stack-ups, grounding, HDI, design for yield.
I²C, SPI, resets, power-on to main().
12 questions with free full answers
Each one: think first, the full worked answer, and the mistake most people make.
- When is a trace a transmission line? SI-01
- How a buck converter works PW-01
- Sizing I²C pull-ups EM-02
- How many decoupling caps? PI-01
- The three op-amp rules AN-01
- Analog/digital partitioning PCB-03
- Choosing the inductor PW-04
- Reflections and the reflection coefficient SI-02
- I²C vs SPI EM-01
- Ground bounce PI-02
- Inverting gain of −10, non-ideal AN-02
- Stack-up for a mixed-signal board PCB-01
Tools
The book
141 board-level electrical engineering questions with model answers on power, signal integrity, analog, PCB and embedded design. The question is on the front of the page; turn over for what to say first, how to explain it, the numbers worth quoting and the follow-ups that come next.
The questions came from interviews the author took over 30 years at the bench, from junior engineers he mentored and worked alongside, and from new graduates and master's and PhD candidates he helps prepare. No company names, no confidential interview tasks.
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