Application Report

SLVA704 June 2015

Understanding the I2C Bus

Jonathan Valdez, Jared Becker
ABSTRACT
2

The I C bus is a very popular and powerful bus used for communication between a master (or multiple
masters) and a single or multiple slave devices. Figure 1 illustrates how many different peripherals may
share a bus which is connected to a processor through only 2 wires, which is one of the largest benefits
that the I2C bus can give when compared to other interfaces.
This application note is aimed at helping users understand how the I2C bus works.
Figure 1 shows a typical I2C bus for an embedded system, where multiple slave devices are used. The
microcontroller represents the I2C master, and controls the IO expanders, various sensors, EEPROM,
ADCs/DACs, and much more. All of which are controlled with only 2 pins from the master.

VCC

VCC

VCC
I/O
Expanders

RP
SCL
Microcontroller
or Processor

SDA

LED
Blinkers

I/O
Expanders
Hub
Repeater
Buffer

SCL0

SDA0
VCC

Multiplexer /
Switch

SCL1
SDA1
Data
Converter

EEPROM

LCD Driver

Temperature
Sensor

Figure 1. Example I2C Bus

Understanding the I2C Bus

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Electrical Characteristics

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Electrical Characteristics
I2C uses an open-drain/open-collector with an input buffer on the same line, which allows a single data line
to be used for bidirectional data flow.

1.1

Open-Drain for Bidirectional Communication

Open-drain refers to a type of output which can either pull the bus down to a voltage (ground, in most
cases), or "release" the bus and let it be pulled up by a pull-up resistor. In the event of the bus being
released by the master or a slave, the pull-up resistor (RPU) on the line is responsible for pulling the bus
voltage up to the power rail. Since no device may force a high on a line, this means that the bus will never
run into a communication issue where one device may try to transmit a high, and another transmits a low,
causing a short (power rail to ground). I2C requires that if a master in a multi-master environment transmits
a high, but see's that the line is low (another device is pulling it down), to halt communications because
another device is using the bus. Push-pull interfaces do not allow for this type of freedom, which is a
benefit of I2C.
Slave or Master
RPU

Logic

Figure 2. Basic Internal Structure of SDA/SCL Line

Figure 2 shows a simplified view of the internal structure of the slave or master device on the SDA/SCL
lines, consisting of a buffer to read input data, and a pull-down FET to transmit data. A device is only able
to pull the bus line low (provide short to ground) or release the bus line (high impedance to ground) and
allow the pull-up resistor to raise the voltage. This is an important concept to realize when dealing with I2C
devices, since no device may hold the bus high. This property is what allows bidirectional communication
to take place.
1.1.1

Open-Drain Pulling Low

As described in the previous section, the Open-Drain setup may only pull a bus low, or "release" it and let
a resistor pull it high. Figure 3 shows the flow of current to pull the bus low. The logic wanting to transmit a
low will activate the pull-down FET, which will provide a short to ground, pulling the line low.

SDA/SCL

Slave or Master
RPU

VBUS

VBUS
Logic

Time

Figure 3. Pulling the Bus Low With An Open-Drain Interface

2

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1.1.2

Open-Drain Releasing Bus

When the slave or master wishes to transmit a logic high, it may only release the bus by turning off the
pull-down FET. This leaves the bus floating, and the pull-up resistor will pull the voltage up to the voltage
rail, which will be interpreted as a high. Figure 4 shows the flow of current through the pull-up resistor,
which pulls the bus high.

SDA/SCL

Slave or Master
RPU

VBUS

VBUS
Logic

Time

Figure 4. Releasing the Bus With An Open-Drain Interface

I2C Interface

2.1

General I2C Operation

The I2C bus is a standard bidirectional interface that uses a controller, known as the master, to
communicate with slave devices. A slave may not transmit data unless it has been addressed by the
master. Each device on the I2C bus has a specific device address to differentiate between other devices
that are on the same I2C bus. Many slave devices will require configuration upon startup to set the
behavior of the device. This is typically done when the master accesses the slave's internal register maps,
which have unique register addresses. A device can have one or multiple registers where data is stored,
written, or read.
The physical I2C interface consists of the serial clock (SCL) and serial data (SDA) lines. Both SDA and
SCL lines must be connected to VCC through a pull-up resistor. The size of the pull-up resistor is
determined by the amount of capacitance on the I2C lines (for further details, refer to I2C Pull-up Resistor
Calculation (SLVA689). Data transfer may be initiated only when the bus is idle. A bus is considered idle if
both SDA and SCL lines are high after a STOP condition.
The general procedure for a master to access a slave device is the following:
1. Suppose a master wants to send data to a slave:
Master-transmitter sends a START condition and addresses the slave-receiver
Master-transmitter sends data to slave-receiver
Master-transmitter terminates the transfer with a STOP condition
2. If a master wants to receive/read data from a slave:
Master-receiver sends a START condition and addresses the slave-transmitter
Master-receiver sends the requested register to read to slave-transmitter
Master-receiver receives data from the slave-transmitter
Master-receiver terminates the transfer with a STOP condition

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2.1.1

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START and STOP Conditions

2

I C communication with this device is initiated by the master sending a START condition and terminated
by the master sending a STOP condition. A high-to-low transition on the SDA line while the SCL is high
defines a START condition. A low-to-high transition on the SDA line while the SCL is high defines a STOP
condition.

SCL

SDA

START
Condition

Data Transfer

STOP
Condition

Figure 5. Example of START and STOP Condition

2.1.2

Repeated START Condition

A repeated START condition is similar to a START condition and is used in place of a back-to-back STOP
then START condition. It looks identical to a START condition, but differs from a START condition
because it happens before a STOP condition (when the bus is not idle). This is useful for when the master
wishes to start a new communication, but does not wish to let the bus go idle with the STOP condition,
which has the chance of the master losing control of the bus to another master (in multi-master
environments).

2.2

Data Validity and Byte Format

One data bit is transferred during each clock pulse of the SCL. One byte is comprised of eight bits on the
SDA line. A byte may either be a device address, register address, or data written to or read from a slave.
Data is transferred Most Significant Bit (MSB) first. Any number of data bytes can be transferred from the
master to slave between the START and STOP conditions. Data on the SDA line must remain stable
during the high phase of the clock period, as changes in the data line when the SCL is high are
interpreted as control commands (START or STOP).

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SDA line stable while SCL line is high

SCL
1

ACK

MSB

Bit

Bit

Bit

Bit

Bit

Bit

LSB

ACK

SDA

Byte: 1010 1010 ( 0xAAh )

Figure 6. Example of Single Byte Data Transfer

2.3

Acknowledge (ACK) and Not Acknowledge (NACK)

Each byte of data (including the address byte) is followed by one ACK bit from the receiver. The ACK bit
allows the receiver to communicate to the transmitter that the byte was successfully received and another
byte may be sent.
Before the receiver can send an ACK, the transmitter must release the SDA line. To send an ACK bit, the
receiver shall pull down the SDA line during the low phase of the ACK/NACK-related clock period (period
9), so that the SDA line is stable low during the high phase of the ACK/NACK-related clock period. Setup
and hold times must be taken into account.
When the SDA line remains high during the ACK/NACK-related clock period, this is interpreted as a
NACK. There are several conditions that lead to the generation of a NACK:
1. The receiver is unable to receive or transmit because it is performing some real-time function and is
not ready to start communication with the master.
2. During the transfer, the receiver gets data or commands that it does not understand.
3. During the transfer, the receiver cannot receive any more data bytes.
4. A master-receiver is done reading data and indicates this to the slave through a NACK.

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SCL

D6

D5

D4

D3

D2

D1

LSB
D0

NACK

SDA

MSB
D7

STOP
Condition

Data Byte N

Figure 7. Example NACK Waveform

I2C Data
Data must be sent and received to or from the slave devices, but the way that this is accomplished is by
reading or writing to or from registers in the slave device.
Registers are locations in the slave's memory which contain information, whether it be the configuration
information, or some sampled data to send back to the master. The master must write information into
these registers in order to instruct the slave device to perform a task.
While it is common to have registers in I2C slaves, please note that not all slave devices will have
registers. Some devices are simple and contain only 1 register, which may be written directly to by
sending the register data immediately after the slave address, instead of addressing a register. An
example of a single-register device would be an 8-bit I2C switch, which is controlled via I2C commands.
Since it has 1 bit to enable or disable a channel, there is only 1 register needed, and the master merely
writes the register data after the slave address, skipping the register number.

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Writing to a Slave On The I2C Bus

3.1

To write on the I2C bus, the master will send a start condition on the bus with the slave's address, as well
as the last bit (the R/W bit) set to 0, which signifies a write. After the slave sends the acknowledge bit, the
master will then send the register address of the register it wishes to write to. The slave will acknowledge
again, letting the master know it is ready. After this, the master will start sending the register data to the
slave, until the master has sent all the data it needs to (sometimes this is only a single byte), and the
master will terminate the transmission with a STOP condition.
Figure 8 shows an example of writing a single byte to a slave register.

Master Controls SDA Line

Slave Controls SDA Line

Write to One Register in a Device
Register Address N (8 bits)

Device (Slave) Address (7 bits)

A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0

START

B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0

R/W = 0 ACK

Data Byte to Register N (8 bits)

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0

ACK

ACK

STOP

Figure 8. Example I2C Write to Slave Device's Register

Reading From a Slave On The I2C Bus

3.2

Reading from a slave is very similar to writing, but with some extra steps. In order to read from a slave,
the master must first instruct the slave which register it wishes to read from. This is done by the master
starting off the transmission in a similar fashion as the write, by sending the address with the R/W bit
equal to 0 (signifying a write), followed by the register address it wishes to read from. Once the slave
acknowledges this register address, the master will send a START condition again, followed by the slave
address with the R/W bit set to 1 (signifying a read). This time, the slave will acknowledge the read
request, and the master releases the SDA bus, but will continue supplying the clock to the slave. During
this part of the transaction, the master will become the master-receiver, and the slave will become the
slave-transmitter.
The master will continue sending out the clock pulses, but will release the SDA line, so that the slave can
transmit data. At the end of every byte of data, the master will send an ACK to the slave, letting the slave
know that it is ready for more data. Once the master has received the number of bytes it is expecting, it
will send a NACK, signaling to the slave to halt communications and release the bus. The master will
follow this up with a STOP condition.
Figure 9 shows an example of reading a single byte from a slave register.

Master Controls SDA Line

Slave Controls SDA Line

Read From One Register in a Device

Device (Slave) Address (7 bits)

A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0

START

Register Address N (8 bits)

B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0

R/W = 0 ACK

Data Byte From Register N (8 bits)

Device (Slave) Address (7 bits)

ACK

Sr

A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0

Repeated START

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 NA

R/W = 1 ACK

NACK

STOP

Figure 9. Example I2C Read from Slave Device's Register

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