SDA

SCL

S

P

START CONDITION

STOP CONDITION

SDA

SCL

Data Line

Stable:

Data Valid

Change

of Data

Allowed

LP3921

SNVS580A – AUGUST 2008 – REVISED MAY 2013

www.ti.com

I

2C Compatible Serial Bus Interface

INTERFACE BUS OVERVIEW

The I2C compatible synchronous serial interface provides access to the programmable functions and registers on

the device.

This protocol uses a two-wire interface for bi-directional communications between the IC’s connected to the bus.

The two interface lines are the Serial Data Line (SDA), and the Serial Clock Line (SCL). These lines should be

connected to a positive supply, via a pull-up resistor of 1.5 k

Ω, and remain HIGH even when the bus is idle.

Every device on the bus is assigned a unique address and acts as either a Master or a Slave depending on

whether it generates or receives the serial clock (SCL).

DATA TRANSACTIONS

One data bit is transferred during each clock pulse. Data is sampled during the high state of the serial clock

(SCL). Consequently, throughout the clock’s high period, the data should remain stable. Any changes on the

SDA line during the high state of the SCL and in the middle of a transaction, aborts the current transaction. New

data should be sent during the low SCL state. This protocol permits a single data line to transfer both

command/control information and data using the synchronous serial clock.

Figure 11. Bit Transfer

Each data transaction is composed of a Start Condition, a number of byte transfers (set by the software) and a

Stop Condition to terminate the transaction. Every byte written to the SDA bus must be 8 bits long and is

transferred with the most significant bit first. After each byte, an Acknowledge signal must follow. The following

sections provide further details of this process.

START AND STOP

The Master device on the bus always generates the Start and Stop Conditions (control codes). After a Start

Condition is generated, the bus is considered busy and it retains this status until a certain time after a Stop

Condition is generated. A high-to-low transition of the data line (SDA) while the clock (SCL) is high indicates a

Start Condition. A low-to-high transition of the SDA line while the SCL is high indicates a Stop Condition.

Figure 12. Start and Stop Conditions

In addition to the first Start Condition, a repeated Start Condition can be generated in the middle of a transaction.

This allows another device to be accessed, or a register read cycle.

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