CMOS Interview Preparation Guide
CMOS INTERVIEW OVERVIEW
1. What is CMOS?
CMOS stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor. It uses both NMOS and PMOS
transistors to form logic gates.
2. Why CMOS?
- Low static power
- High noise margin
- Scalable and widely used in digital ICs
3. CMOS Inverter:
PMOS pulls high, NMOS pulls low.
Truth Table:
Input: 0 -> Output: 1
Input: 1 -> Output: 0
4. Key Interview Topics:
- CMOS Inverter VTC, noise margins
- Propagation delay: tp = 0.69RC
- Power: P = alpha * C * V^2 * f (dynamic), leakage (static)
- Stick diagrams, layouts
- Logical effort, scaling
- Charge sharing, short-circuit current
5. CMOS Interview Questions:
Basic Level:
- What are NMOS and PMOS?
- Explain CMOS inverter
- Why use CMOS logic?
Mid-Level:
- Explain dynamic and static power
- What if both NMOS and PMOS conduct?
- Sizing transistors
Advanced Level:
- Optimize delay in CMOS
- Logical effort use
- Threshold voltage effects
- 2-input NAND using CMOS
6. Tips for Placement:
- Be confident in drawing CMOS logic
- Explain tradeoffs in delay/power
- Understand VTC, layout basics
- Review Elmore delay, scaling
7. Mistakes to Avoid:
- Mixing dynamic vs static power
- Forgetting short-circuit current
- PMOS is not NMOS: PMOS pulls high, size it larger