Interview Drills for SPI Modes & Chip-Select Rules focuses on frame error rate, chip-select timing violation, throughput. The goal is to connect the observable symptom to protocol mechanism, ownership, and regression risk.
PROMPT
You see frame error rate, chip-select timing violation, throughput on SPI Modes & Chip-Select Rules. Walk through root cause and fix.
STRONG ANSWER
1. Names the layer and transaction identity.
2. Explains SPI relies on CPOL/CPHA, chip-select timing, shift order, and device-specific framing agreements.
3. Requests MOSI/MISO/SCLK/CS waveform, mode table, device timing spec.
4. Proposes one reduced sequence and one system regression.
WEAK ANSWER
Jumps to widening the interface, increasing FIFO depth, or blaming firmware without evidence.SPI MODES
Mode | CPOL | CPHA | sample edge
-----+------+------+-------------
0 | 0 | 0 | rising
1 | 0 | 1 | falling
2 | 1 | 0 | falling
3 | 1 | 1 | rising
WAVE (Mode 0):
CS ‾‾\____________________/‾‾
SCLK ____|‾|_|‾|_|‾|_|‾|________
MOSI D7 D6 D5 D4
^ sampled on rising edgeROOT-CAUSE TREE — SPI Modes & Chip-Select Rules
frame error rate, chip-select timing violation, throughput looks wrong
|
reproducible?
/ \
no yes
| |
flaky env same first transaction every time?
/ seed / \
yes no
| |
protocol rule timing/reset/PVT
or config bug or load-dependentI2C/SPI/UART bugs are contract bugs: timing, reset value, IRQ type, and DMA watermark.
PERIPHERAL CONTRACT
firmware writes regs -> RTL state machine -> pins -> board -> device
^ |
+------- IRQ/DMA ----+
If IRQ is level but driver assumes edge, you get lost events.FIFO WATERMARK vs DMA
FIFO fill
100%| *** overrun risk
75%| ***
50%| *** <- ideal DMA trigger band
25%| *
0%+----------------> timeNACK rate
overrun count
CS setup/hold violations
IRQ miss rate
SPI flash worked in loopback but failed in system: CS deasserted one cycle early relative to device hold time. Board + RTL + mode bits together formed the contract.
If overrun, FIFO depth vs ISR latency vs DMA burst.
If NACK on I2C, pull-ups, speed, and clock stretch.
If garbage data, CPOL/CPHA and MSB/LSB first.
Ask: what is the first transaction that deviates, and which spec rule does it test?
Connect every protocol claim to a transaction identity and measurable metric.
Store the artifact (waveform, log, counter) next to every signoff decision.
Debugging timeouts without finding the first bad transaction.
Quoting peak bus width without payload efficiency and retry overhead.
Treating VIP compliance as a substitute for system integration replay.
Draw layers first, then place the failing transaction on the diagram.
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