Application Report
SLVA704 – June 2015

Understanding the I2C Bus
Jonathan Valdez, Jared Becker
ABSTRACT2The I C bus is a very popular and powerful bus used for communication between a master (or multiplemasters) 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
ExpandersRP
SCL
Microcontroller
or Processor

SDA

LED
Blinkers

I/O
Expanders
Hub
Repeater
Buffer

SCL0

SDA0
VCC

Multiplexer /Switch

SCL1
SDA1
DataConverter

EEPROMLCD Driver

Temperature
SensorFigure 1. Example I2C BusTrademarks

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Electrical Characteristics

1

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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 mostcases), 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 neverrun 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 abenefit of I2C.
Slave or Master
RPU

LogicFigure 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/SCLlines, 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) andallow the pull-up resistor to raise the voltage. This is an important concept to realize when dealing with I2Cdevices, 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 alow 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
LogicVTime

Figure 3. Pulling the Bus Low With An Open-Drain Interface
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I2C Interface

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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 thepull-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
LogicVTime

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

2I2C Interface

2.1

General I2C Operation
The I2C bus is a standard bidirectional interface that uses a controller, known as the master, tocommunicate with slave devices. A slave may not transmit data unless it has been addressed by themaster. 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 thebehavior 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 andSCL lines must be connected to VCC through a pull-up resistor. The size of the pull-up resistor isdetermined 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 ifboth 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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I2C Interface

2.1.1

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START and STOP Conditions
2I C communication with this device is initiated by the master sending a START condition and terminatedby the master sending a STOP condition. A high-to-low transition on the SDA line while the SCL is highdefines a START condition. A low-to-high transition on the SDA line while the SCL is high defines a STOPcondition.

SCLSDA

STARTCondition

Data Transfer

STOPCondition

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 masterwishes 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-masterenvironments).

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 theSDA 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 themaster 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 areinterpreted as control commands (START or STOP).

4

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I2C Interface

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SDA line stable while SCL line is highSCL1010

1010ACKMSBBitBitBitBit

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 anotherbyte may be sent.
Before the receiver can send an ACK, the transmitter must release the SDA line. To send an ACK bit, thereceiver shall pull down the SDA line during the low phase of the ACK/NACK-related clock period (period9), so that the SDA line is stable low during the high phase of the ACK/NACK-related clock period. Setupand hold times must be taken into account.
When the SDA line remains high during the ACK/NACK-related clock period, this is interpreted as aNACK. 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 isnot 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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I2C Data

SCL

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12

3

4

5

6

7

89MSB
D7

D6

D5

D4

D3

D2

D1LSB
D0

NACKSDASTOPCondition

Data Byte NFigure 7. Example NACK Waveform

3I2C Data
Data must be sent and received to or from the slave devices, but the way that this is accomplished is byreading 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 haveregisters. Some devices are simple and contain only 1 register, which may be written directly to bysending 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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I2C Data

www.ti.comWriting 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 wellas the last bit (the R/W bit) set to 0, which signifies a write. After the slave sends the acknowledge bit, themaster 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 theslave, until the master has sent all the data it needs to (sometimes this is only a single byte), and themaster 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)

S

A6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0START0AB7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0

R/W = 0 ACK

Data Byte to Register N (8 bits)

A

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0ACKAACKP

STOPFigure 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 masterstarting 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 slaveacknowledges 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 readrequest, 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 theslave-transmitter.
The master will continue sending out the clock pulses, but will release the SDA line, so that the slave cantransmit 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, itwill 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)

SA6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0STARTRegister Address N (8 bits)

0AB7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0

R/W = 0 ACK

Data Byte From Register N (8 bits)

Device (Slave) Address (7 bits)

AACKSrA6 A5 A4 A3 A2 A1 A0Repeated START1A

D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 NA

R/W = 1 ACKP

NACKSTOP

Understanding the I2C Bus

7Figure 9. Example I2C Read from Slave Device's Register

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