Digital Logic Design - Interview Essentials!

Hello Readers,
Due to the recent spate of Layoffs, a high amount of panic and interview preparation frenzy has seeped into the industry. This has triggered a significantly increased amount of emails we get everyday. These are mainly regarding pointers for interview preparation that i have compiled below. This compilation constitutes a list of Books and Links that will help you in kick starting your preparation.

If you are preparing for a digital logic design interview, you might want to brush up on some of the essential concepts and skills that are often tested in this field. Digital logic design is the process of creating and analyzing digital circuits that perform logical operations using binary values. Digital logic design is the foundation of many applications, such as computer architecture, microprocessors, embedded systems, cryptography, and more.

In this blog post, we will review some of the key topics that you should know for a digital logic design interview, such as:

Number systems and conversions: You should be able to work with different number systems, such as binary, decimal, hexadecimal, and octal, and convert between them. You should also know how to perform arithmetic operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, using different number systems.

Boolean algebra and logic gates: You should be familiar with the basic rules and laws of Boolean algebra, such as De Morgan's laws, distributive law, commutative law, associative law, and identity laws. You should also know how to use logic gates, such as AND, OR, NOT, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR, to implement Boolean functions and expressions.

Combinational circuits: You should be able to design and analyze combinational circuits, which are circuits that have no memory elements and produce outputs based on the current inputs only. You should know how to use common combinational circuits, such as multiplexers, demultiplexers, encoders, decoders, adders, subtractors, comparators, and parity generators/checkers.

Sequential circuits: You should be able to design and analyze sequential circuits, which are circuits that have memory elements and produce outputs based on the current inputs and the previous states. You should know how to use common sequential circuits, such as flip-flops (SR, JK, D, T), registers (shift registers, counters), latches (SR latch), and memory devices (RAM, ROM).

Finite state machines: You should be able to model and design finite state machines (FSMs), which are abstract machines that have a finite number of states and transitions between them based on inputs and outputs. You should know how to use state diagrams and state tables to represent FSMs and how to implement them using combinational and sequential circuits.

These are some of the core topics that you should master for a digital logic design interview. Of course, there might be other topics or questions that are specific to the company or the role that you are applying for. Therefore, you should always do your research and practice your skills before the interview. Good luck!

Don't forget, this blog is also a treasure chest for information that you never thought you might find on the web.

Good luck with your preparations!!!

Some popular links on this Blog! - Before we head out to our recommendations.

• Interview (62), News (15),Coding (14),Verilog (14),Low Power (13)
• VHDL (11),E-Books (8),Timing (8),Verification (8)
• Coding Guidelines (7),VHDL Coding Guidelines (7)
• Interview Question (6),Power (6),Sequential Circuits (6),Testing (6)
• ASIC (5),Design (5),Breakthrough (4),Gated clocks (4)
• Performance (4),Synthesis (4),Updates (4),GLS (3)
• Guidelines (3),Hold (3),Processors (3),Questions (3)
• Setup (3),Synchronization (3),Verilog Tutorial (3),Algorithms (2)
• Architecture (2),Arithmetic (2),DVFS (2),Delays (2)
• Digital (2),FPGA (2),Fifo (2),Frequency (2),Glitch (2),Hazards (2)
• I2C (2),Latch (2),Links (2),Memories (2),Metastability (2),Models (2)
• Negative hold time (2),PLL (2),Power Gating (2),RTL (2),gates (2),mux (2),skew (2)

Books:

• Fundamentals of Digital Logic and Microcomputer Design - by M. Rafiquzzaman
  This book is an essential reference that provides with the fundamental tools you need to design typical digital systems.
  
• Digital Logic Circuit Analysis and Design - by Nelson, Nagle, Carroll, Irwin
  If you want to understand the basics of the Digital Logic Circuit Analysis and Desig.
  
• Verilog HDL (2nd Edition) - by Samir Palnitkar
  A jump starter. Learn basic digital design paradigms and the necessaryVerilog HDL constructs that would help build small digital circuits, using Verilog and run simulations.
  
• Verilog HDL Synthesis, A Practical Primer - by Jayaram Bhasker
  For teaching Verilog-based synthesis techniques, as it shows the reader not only what hardware results from various Verilog constructs, but how to tailor the Verilog to get the desired hardware.
  
• Circuit Design with VHDL - by Volnei A. Pedroni
  Teaches VHDL using system examples combined with programmable logic and supported by laboratory exercises. While other textbooks concentrate only on language features, Circuit Design with VHDL offers a fully integrated presentation of VHDL and design concepts by including a large number of complete design examples, illustrative circuit diagrams, a review of fundamental design concepts, fully explained solutions, and simulation results!

Links:

• VHDL Tutorial: Learn by Example -- by Weijun Zhan
• VHDL MINI-REFERENCE -- VHDL Language Reference Manual (VLRM)
• Digital Logic - Direct Links to Other Digital Pages
• Digital Logic Design Notes (PDF) - Notes And Reading Assignments
• Principles of Digital Logic Design - From Gates to Microprocessors with VHDL
• Advanced Digital Logic Design Notes - Mainly notes on Computer Organization
• VHDL Tutorial - Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Hardware Description Language
• Digital Logic Design Manual Pages - A number of tools developed for the digital design class
• Digital Logic Design Lecture Notes - From Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts
• Digital Logic Design - Homework Questions - Mainly in PDF
• An Introductory VHDL Tutorial - An Introduction and Background, Structural Descriptions, Data Flow Descriptions, Behavioral Descriptions
• Digital Logic Lessons - some Digital Logic Lessons
• Digital Logic Design Study Guide - Computer Science Study Guid