GATE 2016 RESULTS DAY - MARCH 18TH [ "hell of a surprise"]

Finally much awaited results of GATE 2016 organised by IISC bangalore was out today evening.The controversy regarding  wrong questions in SET1 and high difficulty level of SET-2 was dealt with ease by IISC.

The SET-1 guys benefited from MTA (marks to all) despite a negative normalisation,while SET-3 guys didn't face any change in marks due to normalisation at all.Meanwhile, despite the increased difficulty level of SET-2 ,AIR 1 is from that very set.They were rewarded 8-10 marks extra.

Update on our ranks: (blog admins)

Manu Krishnan                                             AIR :27   (set 1)

Murali Ramachandran                                 AIR:79   (set 1)

Ashik Anuvar                                                AIR :103. (set 3)


Our previous attempts at GATE 2015 failed horribly,but we didn't give up hope and here we are ,standing tall with good gate scores.

We believe that " You can do anything as long as you have the passion, the drive, the focus, and the support ".

ANALOG CIRCUITS

   This is a subject where you can score easily once you grasp the basics properly (12-14 marks).You don't even need to invest too much time for revising this subject once you are clear with the fundamentals.

 Sedra and Smith’s "Microelectronic Circuits" is an all-inclusive book, which serves to detail out the ABC of  Analog Circuits in a detailed manner. The concepts are clearly explained and easily understandable. This book along with "Design with Operational amplifiers and Analog integrated circuits" by Sergio Franco Covers almost every topic in analog circuits for GATE ECE.

Other Textbooks;

1)Electronic-circuit-analysis-and-design-by-Donald-Naeman

2)Fundamentals of Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi

Online materials:

1)ACE printed material

2)Made easy class notes

3)Previous Gate problems

Formula Sheets

This is  a E.C.E formula sheet which will be helpful during last month revision, though i recommend all to make their own formula sheet.Do refer this to make sure you haven't missed out on any important formulas.

For ALL SUBJECTS  in one pdf, click here.

1.Communication Systems

2.Control Systems

3.Signals & Systems

4.Engineering Mathematics

Also check out the ECE revision capsule from GATE ACADEMY.

QRG_ECE.pdf by ckvirtualize

GATE

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all-India examination that primarily tests the comprehensive understanding of various undergraduate subjects in engineering and science. GATE is conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) on behalf of the National Coordination Board – GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD),Government of India.

The GATE score of a candidate reflects the relative performance level of a candidate. The score is used for admissions to various post-graduate education programs (e.g. Master of Engineering, Master of Technology, Doctor of Philosophy) in Indian higher education institutes, with financial assistance provided by MHRD and other government agencies. Recently, GATE scores are also being used by several Indian public sector undertakings (i.e., government-owned companies) for recruiting graduate engineers in entry-level positions. It is one of the most competitive examinations in India.


SYLLABUS

 EC: Electronics and Communication Engg.    
 EE: Electrical Engineering               
 IN: Instrumentation Engineering

GATE MATERIALS

1.Network Analysis         
     
2. Engineering Mathematics   
         
3.Control Systems

4.Signals and Systems      
                   
5.Electromagnetic Theory

6.Electronic Devices & Circuits       
          
7.Communication Systems

8.Analog Electronics

ELECTROMAGNETIC THEORY (updated)

Being one of the core subjects of ECE, this fellow may grab you 10-12 marks and may even fetch upto 15 since antenna, radar, and optics have been made an integral part. A thorough understanding of the three co-ordinate systems is necessary for working out problems relating to waves through geometric figures and antenna radiation. Transmission lines and waveguides are comparitively easier to follow once properties of waves in a medium and Maxwell's equations have been familiarized.

Materials recommended are:

1. Principles of Electromagnetics, Sadiku 
2. Electromagnetics by David K Cheng  (Detailed explanation)
3. Lectures by Prof. R.K. Shevgaonkar

Online materials

1. Ace printed material
2. Pancea Class notes (new)
3. Ace class notes
4. Made Easy class notes
5. Previous Gate problems

Lecture Videos

Now  that i have uploaded many text materials,let me share with you some interesting video lectures i have come across during preparation.

1.Microelectronics by Behzad Razavi 

One of the best lecture series to start studying the basic analog circuits at UG level.I highly recommend this for Semester 3 students of Electronics branch.

2.Signals and Systems by Oppenheim

This is vintage stuff,Alan Oppenheim is the man to go for if you want to learn signals and systems from scratch.The lecture series is quite old,but doesnt lack the clarity of content.I would also recommend students to solve problems from his text here.


3. Network Analysis and Synthesis by Dutta Roy (NPTEL)

Dutta Roy lectures stand out among other NPTEL videos because of his dedication and clarity in explaining topics with lucid examples in multiple domains be it network theory,signals and systems or digital signal processing.


4. Control Systems by Brian Douglas

This one is an illustrative and short videos on various topics in control systems recommended by one of my friends.There is also another NPTEL lecture series by Prof.Madan Gopal available here which is also very good.


4.Solid State Devices  by S.Karmalkar 

The language and content of this lecture series is very good.I feel this is one of the best lectures for preparing well on Electronic Devices topic in GATE.


5. Analog Signal Processing by K.R.K Rao

K Radakrishnan Rao is regarded as the ANALOG GOD who has taught for over 20 years at IIT-M and is currently working as Distinguished Member and Technical Staff (DMTS) (Analog Training) at Texas Instruments, India.These lectures are a must watch for those who are interested in pursuing a career in VLSI.


6. Digital Circuits and Systems by S.Srinivasan

This NPTEL lecture covers all essential topics of Digital Electronics course and i would recommend students to read Digital Design by Morris Mano in parallel while watching this lecture series.


UPDATE: Check out the NPTEL Lectures complete list for GATE ECE Preparation here.

ELECTRONIC DEVICES & CIRCUITS

Electronic Devices is the only topic filled with vast formulas to remember in various contexts,be it current density,carrier concentration,pn junction,MOS capacitor,BJTs,photodiodes etc.The best way to prepare for this is to be clear with the concepts of each topic first and then prepare formula book topic wise.In GATE,it carries around 8 marks (3-4 questions) every year.


Standard Textbooks:

1. Streetman,Banerjee

2. Integrated electronics milman halkias

3.Electronic Devices and circuit theory,Robert Boylestad

4. Donald Neamen ,Semiconductor physics and devices.


Online Materials :

1.ACE class notes

2.Made Easy Classnotes

3.ACE printed booklet

4.Previous Gate problems

CONTROL SYSTEMS

One of the easiest topics in GATE,which weighs around 6 to 9 marks for GATE ECE.Some of the major topics to cover are  a)Mason's rule  b) System Type  c) Time and Frequency domain analysis d) State space analysis  e)Transient and steady state error tradeoffs.
f)Compensator design basics (active and passive realizations) etc.

Standard Textbooks:

1) Benjamin C Kuo (Solutions)

2)Norman Nise


Online Materials :

1) Made Easy class notes

2) Nptel lectures for Root loci,Nyquist and Bode Plots  (Refer lectures 30 onwards).

3)Previous Gate problems (set1)  (set2)

COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

This subject is often regarded as the most vast and difficult to cover in the gate syllabus, but trust me we can tackle this one easily by dedicating around 42 days to reach a level which is more than enough to counter any gate problem on this topic.Communication systems carry around 12 marks on an average in GATE.


Recommended Standard textbooks:

1) Simon Haykins

2) John G Proakis

3) B.P Lathi

4)NPTEL lectures by Bikash Kumar

5)For Probability and Random Process  (refer chapter 6 and 7 )


Online Materials:

1.ACE printed booklet

2. MADE EASY class notes

3. Previous year gate problems

ISRO Scientist SC Recruitment Exam & Interview Experience [UPDATED]

ISRO  every year conducts  written exam consisting of 80 questions for 90 minutes.Each question carries 3 marks and -1 for a wrong answer. Around 30,000 students appear for the exam in ECE branch out of which only 300 are called up for interview.

Download  ISRO Previous year papers 2006-11 ( with answer key ).

ISRO papers for 2013 onwards are available here.
ISRO ELECTRONICS 2015 PAPER available here  and answer key !  [NEW!]

Written Test was conducted on October 11th and the results of ISRO 2015-16 was published after few months(december).They have shortlisted 280 out of 28,780 under/post graduates.You can download written test results here .

SYLLABUS:  (enough to get 140+ marks)

1) Communication Systems ( as in IES syllabus)

2) Microwave devices like klystron,TWTs,etc and basics of PIN diode and schottky for modulation in microwave frequencies

3) Basic Network theory and Signals. ( Gate 2016 syllabus)

4)Audio amplifiers (class A,B,AB) and other RF amplifiers (class C),also Class D,S and F (Their DC to RF efficiency).

5)Transmission lines and Waveguides ( circular as well).

6) Basics of Satellite communication ( calculating C/No ratio in downlink and uplink)

7) 8051 microcontroller  simple output problems.

8)Basics of Diodes,MOSFETs,BJTs

9)Coaxial line cutoff frequency,CDMA max capacity (for given Eb/No) etc..

However, i recommend one to prepare for this exam by solving all previous year ISRO papers as some questions do repeat every year.A score of above  135 /240 is a safe bet for an interview call.

Update:

The  interview for 2016-17 recruitment was conducted in FEB-MARCH for various branches.The results of the interview took around 2 months! (for ECE).

I had qualified the written test with 147 marks and came 17th among the shortlisted students in  ECE.

INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE : 

My interview was on february 18th at NRSC Hyderabad. In fact, there was only one interview panel in south india for electronics students and the interviews were held for a batch of  around 40-50 students over feb 17-19.

The Day Before Interview:

I reached hyderabad a day before ( on 17th morning ) and  stayed at Samrat Residency which is near to the interview spot.The day before i read through some analog stuff,microwave devices and my project which was again related to vlsi design(analog),I slept around 12am,expecting to wake in time for the interview on 8am.

The Day of Interview:

I reached the interview hall at 8 am.There were around 20-25 other guys present there.The staff there checked our certificates and cross checked all the details asked when we filled the application online.

In addition, there were two forms to be filled,one of which was for travel reimbursement.

The interview started sharp at 9:00 am.The first guy was in and out in 20 minutes (not bad was his feedback).The next three went in and out within just 40 minutes.  I was next on list and i entered the interview hall sharp at 10:00 am.

There were around 6-8  ISRO scientists waiting to hit me with questions.I wished them and sat down.They started asking me to introduce myself.Then, they asked me to explain about my project in detail on the whiteboard (which i believe i did OK!). [ I think it took around 10 minutes].

Q1.Now,the only lady scientist in the panel asked me to compare a certain voltage (which has tolerance) with the input signal. [op amp/comparator application].

Q2.Since my project was based on VLSI design, i was given a set of specs and was asked to calculate the power dissipation in cmos.

Q3.One of the panel member suddenly poped out a question: Can we use mosfet as an inverter in subthreshold region? [ related to my project]

Q4.How do you demodulate FM ? ( the best fit was PLL method)

Q5..Difference between lock and capture range and a problem was given ,asking to calculate the capture range.

Q6. Difference between RAM and ROM.Name a few types of ROMs. (EEPROM,EAPROM (flash memory),UVPROM)

Q7.How is data erased in Flash memory (pendrives) ? ( block level) and also how do you erase electrically ? (charge accumulation in special MOS)

Q8.what is done to write a zero in EEPROM  ,positive/negative current/ voltage pulse ?

Q9. A question on ADC was also asked.

Q10.What is positive and negative logic? Can you give any example of negative logic?

That's it,it was already 10:30am and i was asked to leave.

Check out this link for other isro interview experiences in electronics.

I was waitlisted by 4 in the final selection list of 49 students that came out on April 16th 2016.

You can check out the list here.

ALL THE BEST GUYS!!

SIGNALS AND SYSTEMS

Signals and Systems covers various topics such as properties of LTI signals and system , transform theory,filter design theory etc. It carries around 10 marks in GATE.

Some standard textbooks recommended are:

1. Alan Oppenheim and Wilsky

2.B.P Lathi

3.Dutta Roy NPTEL lectures ( follow these if you have ample time for preparation )

4.Schaum's Signals and systems (solve example problems)

5. Filter Design Techniques  (Refer lectures 34 to 39 )


Online Materials:

1.ACE printed booklet

2.MADE EASY class notes.

3.Previous year problems for practice.

4.Signals Short notes (for revision)  [new!]

ENGINEERING MATHEMATICS

For Mathematics, most cover this topic during last 2-3 month period after completing core subjects.

However,this guy carries around 15 marks which is very crucial.Most gate aspirants seem to skip this,but i would recommend you to solve problems on this subject daily as a starter or when you feel bored with the core topics you are currently going through.

Some standard textbooks recommended are:

1. B.S Grewal ( a must) , buy a paperback edition from any bookstore,this one is worth because you    do need a fundamental book on engineering mathematics for future use. Download pdf here.

2. Erwin Kreyszig (optional)

3.Probability,Random variables and process.

4.For Numerical Techniques check out these videos.

Here are some Online materials:

1.ACE printed booklet

2.Made easy class notes

3. Previous year questions for practice

NETWORK ANALYSIS

NETWORK ANALYSIS

1.VAN VALKENBURG (solutions)

2.ALEXANDER SADIKU (with solutions)

3.HAYT AND KEMMERLY 

4.MADE-EASY Classnotes

5.ACE printed booklet

6.Previous year questions 

For more practice questions, buy KANODIA VOL.3  here and also solve example problems in above textbooks.

Allot around 28 days for completing the theory and practice problems in parallel.One of the most important fundamental topics in GATE which carry around 8-12 marks every year.

Formula sheet - Mathematics

Formula sheets- Control Systems

Formula sheets- SIgnals and Systems

Formula Sheets- Communication Systems

This is  a E.C.E formula sheet which will be helpful during last month revision, though i recommend all to make their own formula sheet.Do refer this to make sure you haven't missed out on any important formulas.

Communication Systems

Welcome to Gateway of Engineering

This blog contains all the resources you need to prepare for GATE (EC/IE/EE) examination.

 All the materials found here are obtained from various online sources .The idea here is to stop gate aspirants from wasting too much time on searching for useful gate materials.Feel free to comment for any texts or materials you need in case you can't find here.

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