lamaPLC Communication: I²C

I²C (Inter-Integrated Circuit; pronounced as “eye-squared-C”), alternatively known as I2C, I²C or IIC, is a synchronous, multi-master/multi-slave (controller/target), packet switched, single-ended, serial communication bus invented in 1982 by Philips Semiconductors. It is widely used for attaching lower-speed peripheral ICs to processors and microcontrollers in short-distance, intra-board communication.

I²C is similar in concept to 1-Wire.

Several competitors, such as Siemens, NEC, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Motorola, Nordic Semiconductor and Intersil, have introduced compatible I²C products to the market since the mid-1990s.

System Management Bus (SMBus), defined by Intel in 1995, is a subset of I²C, defining a stricter usage. One purpose of SMBus is to promote robustness and interoperability. Accordingly, modern I²C systems incorporate some policies and rules from SMBus, sometimes supporting both I²C and SMBus, requiring only minimal reconfiguration either by commanding or output pin use.

• In the most common case, the I²C bus contains only one master, but the possibility of a multimaster is also not excluded
• I²C uses an open-ended pair of wires for data transfer, the serial data line (SDA) and the serial clock signal (SCL). The two wires must be pulled to the operating voltage with resistors, the wires typically operate with a voltage of 5V or 3.3V, but a different voltage specification is also not excluded.

• Pull-up resistors are almost always 4.7k
• In principle, the maximum distance of the bus is 7.6 m, but it is typically used within 2-3 m.
• The bus typically uses 7- or 10-bit addressing, but sometimes the 16-bit solution also occurs. Typical transmission speeds:

The open-drain connections are used on both SDA and SCL lines and connect to an NMOS transistor. This open-drain connection controls the I2C communication line and pulls the line low or releases the line high. The open-drain refers to the NMOS bus connection when the NMOS is turned OFF. Next pics shows the open-drain connection as the NMOS is turned on:

To set the voltage level of the SDA or SCL line, the NMOS is set on or off. When the NMOS is on, the device pulls current through the resistor to ground. This pulls the open-drain line low. Typically, the transition from high to low for I²C is a fast transition as the NMOS pulls down on SDA or SCL. The speed of the transition is determined by the NMOS drive strength and any bus capacitance on SDA or SCL.

When the NMOS turns off, the device stops pulling current, and the pullup resistor pulls the SDA or SCL line to VDD. Next pics shows an open-drain line as the NMOS is turned off. The pullup resistor pulls the line high. The transition of the open-drain line is slower because line is pulled up against the bus capacitance, and is not actively driven.

Different manufacturers' applications and addresses with different lengths (7, 8 or 10 bits) significantly limit the usable address range, which is practically 0x08 .. 0x77.

The I²C protocol involves using two lines to send and receive data: a serial clock pin (SCL) that the Arduino Controller board pulses at a regular interval, and a serial data pin (SDA) over which data is sent between the two devices.

In I²C, there is one controller device, with one or more peripheral devices connected to the controllers SCL and SDA lines.

As the clock line changes from low to high (known as the rising edge of the clock pulse), a single bit of information is transferred from the board to the I²C device over the SDA line. As the clock line keeps pulsing, more and more bits are sent until a sequence of a 7 or 8 bit address, and a command or data is formed. When this information is sent - bit after bit -, the called upon device executes the request and transmits it's data back - if required - to the board over the same line using the clock signal still generated by the Controller on SCL as timing.

Each device in the I²C bus is functionally independent from the controller, but will respond with information when prompted by the controller.

Because the I²C protocol allows for each enabled device to have it's own unique address, and as both controller and peripheral devices to take turns communicating over a single line, it is possible for your Arduino board to communicate (in turn) with many devices, or other boards, while using just two pins of your microcontroller.

• The controller sends out instructions through the I2C bus on the data pin (SDA), and the instructions are prefaced with the address, so that only the correct device listens.
• Then there is a bit signifying whether the controller wants to read or write.
• Every message needs to be acknowledged, to combat unexpected results, once the receiver has acknowledged the previous information it lets the controller know, so it can move on to the next set of bits.
• 8 bits of data
• Another acknowledgement bit
• 8 bits of data
• Another acknowledgement bit

More from Arduino I²C protocol

• Arduino LCD display

The I²C communication basically works with 5V, but in certain cases, for example, if there is a 3.3V base voltage unit (ESP32) in the network, then 3.3V is also sufficient for the 5V units. The voltage level can be stabilized with 4.7 kOhm pull-up resistors (SDO, SCL):

According to the analysis of Texas Instruments, the above solution does not work, because the HI voltage level does not match between 5V and 3.3V, since in the case of 5V, 3.5v is the high-level-pegel, see here.

For this case, they recommend using the PCA9306 IC.

Wikipedia I²C
Texas Instruments: A Basic Guide to I2C
Texas Instruments: Understanding the I2C Bus

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