| Author |
Message |
siddharth.vaghela@gmail.c
Guest
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 Posted:
Tue Jan 04, 2005 7:55 pm Post subject:
need interview questions for a DSP based embedded systems po |
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hello,
i am going to interview with a embedded systems company with focus on
DSP based applications. what kind of questions can i expect from field
of dsp and embedded systems? i have completed my masters in electrical
engineering.
if anyoen knows some good questions asked, please let me know. the
answers i can find for myself :)
siddharth |
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Al Clark
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Jan 04, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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"siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com" <siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> wrote in
news:1104850508.340213.163630@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:
| Quote: | hello,
i am going to interview with a embedded systems company with focus on
DSP based applications. what kind of questions can i expect from field
of dsp and embedded systems? i have completed my masters in electrical
engineering.
if anyoen knows some good questions asked, please let me know. the
answers i can find for myself :)
siddharth
|
When I hire someone (not looking at the moment), I look for those things
that make a person stand out from the crowd.
If you have an emphasis in DSP, we all know that you know what convolution
is. I am usually interested in seeing any projects that you did. Can you
solder? How do you approach problems? Do you have initiative? Are you
flexible? What is your work ethic?
As a new graduate, we expect that you have some skills, but we know that
you are not really an practicing engineer yet. The person hiring you will
expect you to contribute, but will also recognize that you are sort of an
apprentice at this stage in your career. This is one reason why young
engineers with 5 years of experience are usually in demand. I believe a
good organization will have a good mix of experience and youth.
--
Al Clark
Danville Signal Processing, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Purveyors of Fine DSP Hardware and other Cool Stuff
Available at http://www.danvillesignal.com |
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siddharth.vaghela@gmail.c
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:42 pm Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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hello al,
thank u for the insight. |
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Bhaskar Thiagarajan
Guest
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| Posted:
Tue Jan 04, 2005 10:54 pm Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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<siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1104850508.340213.163630@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | hello,
i am going to interview with a embedded systems company with focus on
DSP based applications. what kind of questions can i expect from field
of dsp and embedded systems? i have completed my masters in electrical
engineering.
|
If you are a recent graduate, you should expect to be questioned on the
fundamentals (because that's really what you claim in your resume). For
example, I remember being asked to write a simple FIR filter in
C/pseudo-code/assembly. While I managed to put something reasonable on the
whiteboard, it wasn't as straightforward as I'd imagined. Since you are
interviewing with an embedded systems based company, I suspect you'll be
asked several questions that translate theory into practice (esp. if you
claim you've done some of this in some projects).
You will probably be asked several questions related to any projects that
you might have worked on. So make sure you understand what you state in your
resume.
Remember that an employer usually doesn't expect you to pop out the right
answer - he might help you get to the answer but the real test is if you can
make some progress with the help he provides.
| Quote: | if anyoen knows some good questions asked, please let me know. the
answers i can find for myself :)
siddharth
|
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siddharth.vaghela@gmail.c
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:07 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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thank u for the reply :)
thts wht i am doing exactly.. preparing my basics well and trying to
get my hands on simple programs on fir filters, bit reversals, etc etc.
i do get confused sometimes bcoz of the sheer size of material to be
remmbered.
thankx again |
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Bhaskar Thiagarajan
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:29 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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<siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1104865657.367960.308120@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | thank u for the reply :)
thts wht i am doing exactly.. preparing my basics well and trying to
get my hands on simple programs on fir filters, bit reversals, etc etc.
i do get confused sometimes bcoz of the sheer size of material to be
remmbered.
That's the key - don't try to memorize anything...you'll never remember all |
of it.
Make sure you understand the fundamentals - no one expects you to remember
the DFT equation but they'll probably be interested in how you'd apply it to
real world signals.
I'd also recommend that you try and write the FIR filter yourself (even if
it is pseudo-code) rather than spend time trying to search for the best one
on the web. If you just spit an example program and you are asked to modify
it to make it work different, then you'll be totally lost.
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Randy Yates
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:30 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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"siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com" <siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> writes:
| Quote: | thank u for the reply :)
thts wht i am doing exactly.. preparing my basics well and trying to
get my hands on simple programs on fir filters, bit reversals, etc etc.
i do get confused sometimes bcoz of the sheer size of material to be
remmbered.
thankx again
|
Hi Siddharth,
Here are some example DSP questions that I might ask an interviewee.
Note Fs is sample rate in these questions.
1. Under what conditions is the available bandwidth of a digital system
Fs Hz instead of Fs/2 Hz?
2. What's the difference between an FFT and a DFT?
3. What two PSK modulation orders differ exactly by a factor of two
in spectral efficiency?
4. How does polyphase filtering save computations in a decimation filter?
5. How does polyphase filtering save computations in an interpolation filter?
6. Suppose we have a system with transfer function
H(z) = 1 / ((z - 1.1)*(z - 0.9)).
Is the system stable or unstable?
One could come up with dozens of others, but this should get the "DSP
juices" going.
--
Randy Yates
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124 |
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kiki
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 1:46 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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"Randy Yates" <randy.yates@sonyericsson.com> wrote in message
news:xxp3bxhvswg.fsf@usrts005.corpusers.net...
| Quote: | "siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com" <siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> writes:
thank u for the reply :)
thts wht i am doing exactly.. preparing my basics well and trying to
get my hands on simple programs on fir filters, bit reversals, etc etc.
i do get confused sometimes bcoz of the sheer size of material to be
remmbered.
thankx again
Hi Siddharth,
Here are some example DSP questions that I might ask an interviewee.
Note Fs is sample rate in these questions.
1. Under what conditions is the available bandwidth of a digital system
Fs Hz instead of Fs/2 Hz?
2. What's the difference between an FFT and a DFT?
3. What two PSK modulation orders differ exactly by a factor of two
in spectral efficiency?
4. How does polyphase filtering save computations in a decimation filter?
5. How does polyphase filtering save computations in an interpolation
filter?
6. Suppose we have a system with transfer function
H(z) = 1 / ((z - 1.1)*(z - 0.9)).
Is the system stable or unstable?
One could come up with dozens of others, but this should get the "DSP
juices" going.
--
Randy Yates
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124
|
Nice questions... first round/phone interview questions? :=) |
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Rich
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 3:43 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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Hi,
I was in the exact same position as you about a year ago so hopefully my
experience might be helpful. When I was interviewing at first I was worried
because I was anticipating the interviewer/s asking me a lot of very
technical questions, in reality at this stage in your career it won't be the
case. Your degree already shows you're not a fool so the interviewer is
looking to see if you are able to communicate your ideas well, able to speak
with others easily and can think on your feet. In fact in the interviews I
had for positions of this type, I came across a few questions that seemed
almost always crop up! (I'm in the UK by the way)
1. Power Supplies. Unless you are going for a purely software position every
interview I went to I was asked about power supplies. Namely the difference
between linear regulation and switching supplies, and I was usually asked to
draw a power supply of some description. The key part of this question
seemed to be when the interviewer asked in what situation would you use one
supply over the other.
2. Programming. You may well be asked to write some simple form of algorithm
or function. I was asked to write a simple FIR filter in C on one occassion.
Another question I got a few times was to write a sorting algorithm (a
bubble sort for example).
3. Structure of a microprocessor system. I was asked this same question
several times. I was asked to draw a reasonably detailed block diagram of
how a typical microprocessor system may look (CPU, ROM, RAM, buffers,
latches etc). This is your time to shine!
I also found that most interviews have a section where you are expected to
talk about previous projects you have worked on. The sole reason I got my
current position after University was because of this. I went prepared with
a concise but well presented folder of all the projects I had worked on. So
if you've worked on some projects take some photographs, bring along the
schematics and show them some of your theory and code you are proud of (just
don't go over the top .. concise and to the point).
Hope this has been of some help, best of luck!
Rich.
<siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1104850508.340213.163630@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | hello,
i am going to interview with a embedded systems company with focus on
DSP based applications. what kind of questions can i expect from field
of dsp and embedded systems? i have completed my masters in electrical
engineering.
if anyoen knows some good questions asked, please let me know. the
answers i can find for myself :)
siddharth
|
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| Back to top |
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Randy Yates
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:08 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
|
|
"kiki" <lunaliu3@yahoo.com> writes:
| Quote: | "Randy Yates" <randy.yates@sonyericsson.com> wrote in message
news:xxp3bxhvswg.fsf@usrts005.corpusers.net...
"siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com" <siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com> writes:
thank u for the reply :)
thts wht i am doing exactly.. preparing my basics well and trying to
get my hands on simple programs on fir filters, bit reversals, etc etc.
i do get confused sometimes bcoz of the sheer size of material to be
remmbered.
thankx again
Hi Siddharth,
Here are some example DSP questions that I might ask an interviewee.
Note Fs is sample rate in these questions.
1. Under what conditions is the available bandwidth of a digital system
Fs Hz instead of Fs/2 Hz?
2. What's the difference between an FFT and a DFT?
3. What two PSK modulation orders differ exactly by a factor of two
in spectral efficiency?
4. How does polyphase filtering save computations in a decimation filter?
5. How does polyphase filtering save computations in an interpolation
filter?
6. Suppose we have a system with transfer function
H(z) = 1 / ((z - 1.1)*(z - 0.9)).
Is the system stable or unstable?
One could come up with dozens of others, but this should get the "DSP
juices" going.
--
Randy Yates
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
randy.yates@sonyericsson.com, 919-472-1124
Nice questions... first round/phone interview questions? :=)
|
I'm not sure what you mean. I take it from the little face that
you think these may be elementary. Perhaps you should answer
them before you make that judgement. If the question was
serious, then the answer is no, these would be in-office
questions. Like I said, this would be a starting point.
To be honest, I'm beginning to think you're a bit of a
smart-ass, kiki. The tell-tale is that after answering
several of your questions, this is the first response I've
heard from you.
--
% Randy Yates % "The dreamer, the unwoken fool -
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % in dreams, no pain will kiss the brow..."
%%% 919-577-9882 %
%%%% <yates@ieee.org> % 'Eldorado Overture', *Eldorado*, ELO
http://home.earthlink.net/~yatescr |
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Jerry Avins
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 7:43 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
|
|
siddharth.vaghela@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | hello,
i am going to interview with a embedded systems company with focus on
DSP based applications. what kind of questions can i expect from field
of dsp and embedded systems? i have completed my masters in electrical
engineering.
if anyoen knows some good questions asked, please let me know. the
answers i can find for myself :)
siddharth
|
When I interview a recent graduate, I start out by assuming that she
pretty well learned the curriculum. I want to find out how well she can
solve problems (so I might pose one that I find interesting) and how
well she can judge what she knows. I usually ask her to name a subject
she did well in and likes, and talk about that. If it's something I
don't understand myself, I ask her to explain it. If her favorite
subject is antenna theory and she doesn't know broadside from endfire,
the interview is effectively over. If I had chosen the subject myself,
such a lapse would mean very little.
I like to ask Masters and PhDs in EE if this seems strange:
Z = v/i
v = L*di/dt
i = sin(wt)
di/dt = w*cos(wt)
v = L*w*cos(wt)
Z = L*w*cot(wt)
Some can't find the error, a very few contend there isn't one. I usually
end up hiring the ones who laugh as soon as I write it down.
When I was interviewed for a job at a prestigious lab (that I stayed in
for 25 years) I answered many questions with "I don't know." I asked one
interviewer how he solved the problem I couldn't, and he said, "You were
doing all right up to now. I had hoped you would come up with a way."
"I don't know" is better than bullshit. "I don't know, but I can guess"
is better yet. Almost as good as knowing is "I don't know, but I know
how to find out."
Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ |
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Randy Yates
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 7:51 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> writes:
| Quote: | [...]
"I don't know" is better than bullshit. "I don't know, but I can guess"
is better yet. Almost as good as knowing is "I don't know, but I know
how to find out."
|
I agree completely with all these Jerry. But have you noticed
there are many who would place image above real capability? Thus
the slick-talking, sharp-looking young college guy wins out over
the short, slow-but-steady talking young college guy (or girl).
--
% Randy Yates % "She's sweet on Wagner-I think she'd die for Beethoven.
%% Fuquay-Varina, NC % She love the way Puccini lays down a tune, and
%%% 919-577-9882 % Verdi's always creepin' from her room."
%%%% <yates@ieee.org> % "Rockaria", *A New World Record*, ELO
http://home.earthlink.net/~yatescr |
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Al Clark
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:01 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> wrote in news:34155bF45r9fmU1@individual.net:
| Quote: | Randy Yates wrote:
Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> writes:
[...]
"I don't know" is better than bullshit. "I don't know, but I can
guess"
is better yet. Almost as good as knowing is "I don't know, but I know
how to find out."
I agree completely with all these Jerry. But have you noticed
there are many who would place image above real capability? Thus
the slick-talking, sharp-looking young college guy wins out over
the short, slow-but-steady talking young college guy (or girl).
That depends on who does the hiring. At RCA Labs, Personnel was a
support group. MTSs did campus and in-house interviews. You can slick
talk the flunky in Human Resources. It's harder to do with the guy you
might be working under or along side.
Jerry
|
Many years ago, I was interviewing electronic technicians. I would ask
them simple technical questions such as what is the gain of this
amplifier circuit (an opamp and two resistors). I was amazed that so many
candidates failed.
I had one such candidate call me back after bombing the interview with
me. He told me that he had gone to quite a few interviews and I was the
only one who actually wanted to know if he had learned anything. Everyone
else was more concerned with personality stuff.
Often the best candidates are mavericks in some way. I don't think that
you need to be a maverick to be good. I just think that some very good
people are overlooked by other companies for stupid reasons. This is
particularly true if Human Resources screens them first.
I agree with Jerry, you are not going to fool a good engineering manager.
Be honest, be direct and if you don't know something, say so and followup
later with the correct answer. Before you go into an interview, know your
own USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Why are you a better candidate than
the other applicants? If you are still going to school, find something
that sets you a little apart.
--
Al Clark
Danville Signal Processing, Inc.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Purveyors of Fine DSP Hardware and other Cool Stuff
Available at http://www.danvillesignal.com |
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Jerry Avins
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:01 am Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
|
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Randy Yates wrote:
| Quote: | Jerry Avins <jya@ieee.org> writes:
[...]
"I don't know" is better than bullshit. "I don't know, but I can guess"
is better yet. Almost as good as knowing is "I don't know, but I know
how to find out."
I agree completely with all these Jerry. But have you noticed
there are many who would place image above real capability? Thus
the slick-talking, sharp-looking young college guy wins out over
the short, slow-but-steady talking young college guy (or girl).
|
That depends on who does the hiring. At RCA Labs, Personnel was a
support group. MTSs did campus and in-house interviews. You can slick
talk the flunky in Human Resources. It's harder to do with the guy you
might be working under or along side.
Jerry
--
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ |
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siddharth.vaghela@gmail.c
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject:
Re: need interview questions for a DSP based embedded system |
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thank u very much for all th replies :)
well ive read thru all and decided to take a few pointers from each.
mainly im doing wht i was doing earlier as well:
1. try different small but efficient and thorough implementations of
basic stuff like convolution, bit reversals, etc.
2. also have finished three different programs dealing with FFTs . now
i am working on a radix 4 FFT program.
3. besides these programming experiments, i have to go thru my projects
dealing with jpeg2000 and make sure i am perfectly clear with my
analysis of wht i did.
4. go thru some fixed point arithematic
5. since the position is inclined towards image processing work, ill
concentrate mainly on dsp fundamentals related to multi-dimensional
analysis.
6. my USP as such is the combination of project + academic knowledge of
DSP, image processing, DSP based programming, Wavelets and computer
graphics. i am pretty strong with the fundamentals in these areas.
does tht sound like a good USP?
thankx once again for all the help. i am usually confident abt wht i
have done. but i do get tired and then the brain goes blank. so ill try
to keep my stamina going so tht i can be confident thruout the long
process.
siddharth |
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