Interview Topics
EE Fundamentals
Digital Communication Interface
PCB Fabrication and assembly Manufacturing
PCB Design
High-Speed PCB Design
System Bringup, Validation, and Testing
Compliance and Reliability Tests
System Design
For the comprehensive topics, see the PDF at the end of the page.
Example Questions
Why is PDN important for designing an embedded hardware system?
Things to look for: A good PDN ensures the power supply bus is free of spikes, ripples, and noise for high transient loads such as digital processors.
If you have two 0.1 uF ceramic caps with the package size, how does the impedance vs frequency graph look like compared to just itself?
Things to look for: When two ceramic capacitors are connected in parallel, the equivalent series resistance (ESR) and equivalent series inductance (ESL) are reduced, while the capacitance is increased. This results in a wider V-shaped impedance curve, with the lowest impedance being lower. In other words, the V curve shifts down. See below for a depiction:
3. How do you know you got it right?
Things to look for: Initial estimate (calculate target impedance (Ztarget = voltage rail*%ripple/(0.5*Imax_transient)), run power integrity simulation, correlate with VNA when the PCBA comes back.
HWE.DESIGN_ System EE Intervew Topics and Study Guide (1).pdf