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preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews song liu skip to content song liu preparing for ic design technical interviews the book contents reviews author faq obtain a copy order errata first edition 2026 320 pages isbn 978 1 394 43107 6 wiley ieee press 2026 preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews 50 questions to sharpen your circuit intuition learn to analyze circuits intuitively a critical skill for technical interviews and real world ic design by song liu technical and product line director monolithic power systems san jose california more than 26 years in analog and mixed signal ic design buy on amazon wiley ieee press technical interviews in analog and mixed signal ic design test more than whether you remember equations they test whether you can quickly identify the dominant effects in a circuit simplify a problem estimate its behavior recognize design tradeoffs and explain your reasoning clearly this book uses 50 real world interview questions to connect classroom equations with the practical analysis and design thinking expected in analog and mixed signal ic interviews and in real design work why this book technical interviews require a different kind of preparation traditional textbooks are excellent for learning circuit theory but interviews often compress years of knowledge into a few minutes at a whiteboard an interviewer may draw a circuit and ask what happens why what limits the performance what changes if this device becomes larger where does the noise come from is this circuit stable there may be no time for a lengthy derivation understand the circuit first then use mathematics to confirm the intuition build circuit intuition identify the important devices circuit nodes impedances feedback paths time constants and nonidealities before performing a detailed calculation connect intuition with equations each question combines qualitative reasoning with quantitative analysis so that intuition remains grounded in circuit fundamentals review what interviews probe work across analog mixed signal selected digital circuits and physical layout including topics that are easy to neglect during interview preparation who should read it for engineers and students who want a faster path back to strong fundamentals analog ic designers preparing for a technical interview or considering a new position often neglected layout topics are also covered mixed signal ic designers reviewing both continuous time and discrete time circuit concepts as well as fundamental digital circuits graduate senior undergraduate students preparing for a first ic design interview for a permanent position or an internship junior ic designers strengthening the connection between textbook analysis and practical design experienced engineers refreshing fundamentals without pulling out years of old notes and multiple textbooks interviewers mentors looking for structured circuit questions that reveal how a candidate reasons contents six chapters fifty questions four appendices the sequence moves from core analog analysis into sampled data circuits digital blocks viewed through analog behavior and practical layout expand all chapters about the author xi preface xiii acknowledgments xvii 1 chapter 1 impedance page 1 see the circuit through impedances q1 q6 6 questions hide questions input output resistance miller effect device capacitances differential versus common mode behavior cascode structures and cross coupled structures q1 input and output resistance of a transimpedance amplifier tia 1 q2 input capacitance of a source follower 5 q3 input capacitance of a differential pair 9 q4 output resistance of a tied gate current source 11 q5 folded cascode amplifier and input miller effect reduction 13 q6 impedance of a cross coupled load 17 2 chapter 2 amplifiers open loop and closed loop page 23 open loop and closed loop behavior q7 q20 14 questions hide questions stability compensation gain bandwidth slew rate distortion common mode range cmfb feedback factor noise psrr power and frequency response q7 stability of an uncompensated two stage op amp 24 q8 compensation for a two stage op amp pole splitting 26 q9 nyquist stability criterion and conditional stability 31 q10 device noise contribution in a folded cascode amplifier 37 q11 slew rate limitations of a two stage op amp 44 q12 distortion in a common source amplifier due to device nonlinearity 47 q13 common emitter amplifier bjt with emitter degeneration 50 q14 amplifier input common mode range and distortion 53 q15 common mode feedback control cmfb in fully differential amplifiers 56 q16 frequency response of two op amp based low pass filters 61 q17 feedback factors of inverting amplifiers and unity gain buffers 65 q18 power supply rejection ratio psrr of a voltage regulator 70 q19 power optimization of multistage open loop amplifiers 77 q20 frequency response of a source follower 81 3 chapter 3 bias and references page 85 establish accurate operating conditions q21 q25 5 questions hide questions precision current mirrors matching degeneration resistance effects noise bandgap fundamentals and beta multiplier stability q21 designing a precision current mirror 85 q22 degeneration in current mirrors 89 q23 impact of resistance in current mirrors 92 q24 bandgap reference basics 97 q25 stability of beta multiplier references 102 4 chapter 4 switched capacitor circuits and comparators page 107 move into discrete time analog design q26 q36 11 questions hide questions sampling switches kickback charge injection bottom plate sampling track and hold kt c noise sc cmfb regenerative latches comparators offset cancellation and switched inductor circuits q26 input impedance and kickback noise of switched capacitor circuits 108 q27 sizing the switch for better linearity and less charge injection 112 q28 bottom plate sampling and signal dependent charge injection 118 q29 requirements of the amplifier in a charge transfer track hold circuit 120 q30 impact of the amplifier input capacitance in switched capacitor circuits 126 q31 thermal noise in switched capacitor circuits 129 q32 switched capacitor common mode feedback cmfb circuits 134 q33 comparator regenerative latch 137 q34 comparator preamplifier 143 q35 comparator offset cancellation ios 147 q36 switched inductor circuits buck converters 151 5 chapter 5 digital circuits from an analog perspective page 161 digital circuits are still analog devices q37 q44 8 questions hide questions ring oscillators delay duty cycle distortion drivers for long rc interconnects switching power flip flops setup hold clock dividers pfds and plls mixed signal and metastability q37 inverter based ring oscillators 162 q38 inverter optimization of propagation delay and duty cycle distortion 164 q39 designing buffers for driving long rc lines 168 q40 inverter switching current and power consumption 171 q41 master slave d flip flops and setup hold time 176 q42 clock divider with d flip flops 179 q43 digital phase frequency detectors and phase locked loops plls 181 q44 metastability in digital systems 189 6 chapter 6 circuit layout techniques page 193 design does not end at the schematic q45 q50 6 questions hide questions matching interdigitation parasitic reduction shielding decoupling substrate well contacts latch up power ground and padframe optimization q45 transistor layout for parasitic reduction 194 q46 interdigitation for matching 196 q47 layout of decoupling capacitors 199 q48 substrate well contact and latch up 201 q49 shielding in layout grounded or not grounded which ground 205 q50 optimizing the padframe for power and ground 211 appendices a1 appendix 1 device equations page 217 4 sections hide sections 1 mosfet long channel equations 217 2 bipolar transistor bjt equations 220 3 diode pn junction equations 224 4 resistor capacitor and inductor equations 225 a2 appendix 2 circuit theorems page 227 4 sections hide sections 1 kirchhoff s circuit laws 227 2 thévenin s theorem and norton s theorem 229 3 the superposition theorem 231 4 miller s theorem 232 a3 appendix 3 circuit analysis in the complex frequency domain s domain page 235 5 sections hide sections 1 laplace transform and transfer functions 235 2 first order systems 239 3 transfer function of feedback systems 241 4 second order systems 242 5 s domain and frequency domain 246 a4 appendix 4 basic circuit analysis examples page 251 7 sections hide sections 1 voltage and current dividers 251 2 rc circuits transient and frequency response 255 3 basic amplifiers 260 4 basic op amp based closed loop circuits 268 5 types of negative feedback in amplifier circuits 273 6 circuit noise fundamentals 278 7 basic digital circuits 286 index 295 how to use the book a three pass approach to interview preparation i answer without equations look at the circuit and explain what you expect to happen identify the dominant devices circuit nodes feedback paths impedances poles and zeros noise sources or nonlinearities ii quantify the intuition work through the quantitative analysis and determine whether the equations support your initial reasoning if they do not find out why iii explain it as you would in an interview give a concise verbal explanation before the derivation a technically correct answer matters but clear reasoning is often just as important as the final equation from readers excerpts from amazon customer reviews each rated 5 out of 5 stars i like the detailed explanation and insight beyond just solving equations it s much faster and helpful than taking out old notes and text books amazon kindle reader 5 of 5 stars it can help students to develop stronger circuit intuition and analytical ability the book can be particularly useful for senior ee students and m s ph d students preparing for internships or full time positions in analog mixed signal ic design and related areas amazon reader 5 of 5 stars about the author song liu technical and product line director monolithic power systems san jose california more than 26 years in analog and mixed signal ic design over the course of his career song liu has led the technical development of a wide range of integrated circuits for applications including wireline and wireless communications industrial automation and consumer electronics this book grew out of a practical observation success in circuit design interviews and real world projects requires more than remembering equations it requires the ability to look at a circuit recognize its dominant behavior make reasonable approximations and use quantitative analysis to validate that intuition education m s e e university of idaho 1999 focus data converters and analog front ends background analog and mixed signal ic design control systems further study recommended reading cmos circuit design layout and simulation r jacob baker fourth edition a practical guide to cmos circuit design layout and simulation connecting theory with implementation more cmos design resources https cmosedu com questions about the book is this an analog ic design interview book analog and mixed signal circuit design forms a major part of the book including impedance amplifiers bias and reference circuits switched capacitor circuits and comparators used in data converters basic switched inductor circuits used in power management ics and basic pll circuits it also covers selected fundamental digital topics as well as physical layout is this just a collection of interview questions and answers no the questions are used to develop circuit intuition problems are approached both intuitively and quantitatively so that the reader understands not only how to obtain an answer but why the circuit behaves as it does who is the book intended for it is especially useful for analog and mixed signal ic designers and ece students preparing for technical interviews as well as for graduate students senior undergraduate students junior engineers and experienced engineers refreshing their fundamentals does the book cover switched capacitor circuits and data converter related topics yes topics include sampling switches charge injection bottom plate sampling thermal noise track and hold circuits switched capacitor common mode feedback and comparator design does it cover digital circuits yes from an analog designer s perspective topics include cmos inverters ring oscillators buffers d flip flops setup and hold time clock dividers phase frequency detectors and metastability does it discuss ic layout yes an entire chapter covers practical layout topics including matching parasitic reduction shielding decoupling substrate well contacts latch up and padframe power and ground do i need to remember all of my undergraduate circuit theory before starting no four appendices provide a quick reference for device equations circuit theorems s domain and frequency domain analysis and basic circuit analysis examples bibliographic record title preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews 50 questions to sharpen your circuit intuition author song liu publisher wiley ieee press edition first edition 2026 extent 320 pages 6 chapters 50 questions 4 appendices print isbn 978 1 394 43107 6 e book isbn 978 1 394 43108 3 cite this book 1 s liu preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews 50 questions to sharpen your circuit intuition hoboken nj usa wiley ieee press 2026 bibtex book liu2026preparing author song liu title preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews 50 questions to sharpen your circuit intuition publisher wiley ieee press address hoboken nj usa edition first year 2026 isbn 978 1 394 43107 6 obtain a copy buy on amazon wiley ieee press amazon amazon com dp 1394431074 wiley wiley com isbn 978 1 394 43107 6 2026 song liu author website for preparing for integrated circuit ic design technical interviews published by wiley ieee press book title and publication information shown for author 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