Figure 13-6. Data Validity During Bit Transfer on the I
2
C Bus
Change
of data
allowed
Data line
stable
SDA
SCL
13.2.1.4 Acknowledge
All bus transactions have a required acknowledge clock cycle that is generated by the master. During
the acknowledge cycle, the transmitter (which can be the master or slave) releases the SDA line.
To acknowledge the transaction, the receiver must pull down SDA during the acknowledge clock
cycle. The data sent out by the receiver during the acknowledge cycle must comply with the data
validity requirements described in “Data Validity” on page 330.
When a slave receiver does not acknowledge the slave address, SDA must be left High by the slave
so that the master can generate a STOP condition and abort the current transfer. If the master
device is acting as a receiver during a transfer, it is responsible for acknowledging each transfer
made by the slave. Since the master controls the number of bytes in the transfer, it signals the end
of data to the slave transmitter by not generating an acknowledge on the last data byte. The slave
transmitter must then release SDA to allow the master to generate the STOP or a repeated START
condition.
13.2.1.5 Arbitration
A master may start a transfer only if the bus is idle. It's possible for two or more masters to generate
a START condition within minimum hold time of the START condition. In these situations, an
arbitration scheme takes place on the SDA line, while SCL is High. During arbitration, the first of
the competing master devices to place a '1' (High) on SDA while another master transmits a '0'
(Low) will switch off its data output stage and retire until the bus is idle again.
Arbitration can take place over several bits. Its first stage is a comparison of address bits, and if
both masters are trying to address the same device, arbitration continues on to the comparison of
data bits.
13.2.2 Available Speed Modes
The I
2
C clock rate is determined by the parameters: CLK_PRD, TIMER_PRD, SCL_LP, and SCL_HP.
where:
CLK_PRD is the system clock period
SCL_LP is the low phase of SCL (fixed at 6)
SCL_HP is the high phase of SCL (fixed at 4)
TIMER_PRD is the programmed value in the I
2
C Master Timer Period (I2CMTPR) register (see
page 349).
The I
2
C clock period is calculated as follows:
SCL_PERIOD = 2*(1 + TIMER_PRD)*(SCL_LP + SCL_HP)*CLK_PRD
For example:
331June 22, 2010
Texas Instruments-Production Data
Stellaris® LM3S8530 Microcontroller
