Signal Integrity and Hardware Interaction Questions

Fundamental electrical and physical interface concepts that affect how firmware and hardware interact. Topics include pull up and pull down resistor usage, input debouncing strategies, signal noise and crosstalk, level shifting, grounding and return paths, impedance mismatches, and analog to digital sampling issues. Candidates should also be able to explain how firmware design mitigates signal problems through filtering, sampling choices, hysteresis, retry and validation logic, and how to collaborate with hardware engineers to diagnose and resolve signal integrity problems.