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Philips Semiconductors
The I2C-bus specification
The Fast-mode I2C-bus specification has the following
additional features compared with the Standard-mode:
•The maximum bit rate is increased to 400 kbit/s.
•Timing of the serial data (SDA) and serial clock (SCL)
signals has been adapted. There is no need for
compatibility with other bus systems such as CBUS
because they cannot operate at the increased bit rate.
•The inputs of Fast-mode devices incorporate spike
suppression and a Schmitt trigger at the SDA and SCL
inputs.
•The output buffers of Fast-mode devices incorporate
slope control of the falling edges of the SDA and SCL
signals.
•If the power supply to a Fast-mode device is switched
off, the SDA and SCL I/O pins must be floating so that
they don’t obstruct the bus lines.
•The external pull-up devices connected to the bus lines
mustbe adapted to accommodate the shorter maximum
permissiblerise time for the Fast-mode I2C-bus. For bus
loads up to 200 pF, the pull-up device for each bus line
can be a resistor; for bus loads between 200 pF and
400 pF, the pull-up device can be a current source
(3 mA max.) or a switched resistor circuit (see Fig.43).
13 Hs-MODE
High-speed mode (Hs-mode) devices offer a quantum
leap in I2C-bus transfer speeds. Hs-mode devices can
transfer information at bit rates of up to 3.4 Mbit/s, yet they
remain fully downward compatible with Fast- or
Standard-mode (F/S-mode) devices for bi-directional
communication in a mixed-speed bus system. With the
exception that arbitration and clock synchronization is not
performed during the Hs-mode transfer, the same serial
bus protocol and data format is maintained as with the
F/S-mode system. Depending on the application, new
devices may have a Fast or Hs-mode I2C-bus interface,
although Hs-mode devices are preferred as they can be
designed-in to a greater number of applications.
13.1 High speed transfer
To achieve a bit transfer of up to 3.4 Mbit/s the following
improvements have been made to the regular I2C-bus
specification:
•Hs-mode master devices have an open-drain output
buffer for the SDAH signal and a combination of an
open-drain pull-down and current-source pull-up circuit
on the SCLH output(1). This current-source circuit
shortens the rise time of the SCLH signal. Only the
current-sourceofone masteris enabledat anyone time,
and only during Hs-mode.
•No arbitration or clock synchronization is performed
during Hs-mode transfer in multi-master systems, which
speeds-up bit handling capabilities. The arbitration
procedure always finishes after a preceding master
code transmission in F/S-mode.
•Hs-mode master devices generate a serial clock signal
with a HIGH to LOW ratio of 1 to 2. This relieves the
timing requirements for set-up and hold times.
•As an option, Hs-mode master devices can have a
built-in bridge(1). During Hs-mode transfer, the high
speed data (SDAH) and high-speed serial clock (SCLH)
lines of Hs-mode devices are separated by this bridge
from the SDA and SCL lines of F/S-mode devices. This
reduces the capacitive load of the SDAH and SCLH
lines resulting in faster rise and fall times.
•The only difference between Hs-mode slave devices
and F/S-mode slave devices is the speed at which they
operate.Hs-modeslaveshaveopen-drainoutputbuffers
on the SCLH and SDAH outputs. Optional pull-down
transistors on the SCLH pin can be used to stretch the
LOW level of the SCLH signal, although this is only
allowed after the acknowledge bit in Hs-mode transfers.
•The inputs of Hs-mode devices incorporate spike
suppression and a Schmitt trigger at the SDAH and
SCLH inputs.
•The output buffers of Hs-mode devices incorporate
slopecontrol of thefalling edges of theSDAH and SCLH
signals.
Figure 20 shows the physical I2C-bus configuration in a
system with only Hs-mode devices. Pins SDA and SCL on
the master devices are only used in mixed-speed bus
systems and are not connected in an Hs-mode only
system. In such cases, these pins can be used for other
functions.
Optional series resistors Rs protect the I/O stages of the
I2C-bus devices from high-voltage spikes on the bus lines
and minimize ringing and interference.
Pull-up resistors Rpmaintain the SDAH and SCLH lines at
a HIGH level when the bus is free and ensure the signals
are pulled up from a LOW to a HIGH level within the
required rise time. For higher capacitive bus-line loads
(>100 pF), the resistor Rp can be replaced by external
currentsource pull-ups to meettherise time requirements.
Unless proceeded by an acknowledge bit, the rise time of
the SCLH clock pulses in Hs-mode transfers is shortened
by the internal current-source pull-up circuit MCS of the
active master.
(1) Patent application pending.