SCPS144C May 2006 – May 2015 P82B96
PRODUCTION DATA.
The P82B96 is a bus buffer that supports bidirectional data transfer between an I2C bus and a range of other bus configurations with different voltage and current levels.
One of the advantages of the P82B96 is that it supports longer cables/traces and allows for more devices per I2C bus because it can isolate bus capacitance such that the total loading (devices and trace lengths) of the new bus or remote I2C nodes are not apparent to other I2C buses (or nodes). The restrictions on the number of I2C devices in a system due to capacitance, or the physical separation between them, are greatly improved.
The P82B96 is able to provide galvanic isolation (optocoupling) or use balanced transmission lines (twisted pairs), because separate directional Tx and Rx signals are provided. The Tx and Rx signals may be connected directly (without causing bus latching), to provide an bidirectional signal line with I2C properties (open-drain driver). Likewise, the Ty and Ry signals may also be connected together to provide an bidirectional signal line with I2C properties (open-drain driver). This allows for a simple communication design, saving design time and costs.
Two or more Sx or Sy I/Os must not be connected to each other on the same node. The P82B96 design does not support this configuration. Bidirectional I2C signals do not have a direction control pin so, instead, slightly different logic low-voltage levels are used at Sx/Sy to avoid latching of this buffer. A standard I2C low applied at the Rx/Ry of a P82B96 is propagated to Sx/Sy as a buffered low with a slightly higher voltage level. If this special buffered low is applied to the Sx/Sy of another P82B96, the second P82B96 does not recognize it as a standard I2C bus low and does not propagate it to its Tx/Ty output. The Sx/Sy side of P82B96 may not be connected to similar buffers that rely on special logic thresholds for their operation.
The Sx/Sy side of the P82B96 is intended for I2C logic voltage levels of I2C master and slave devices or Tx/Rx signals of a second P82B96, if required. If Rx and Tx are connected, Sx can function as either the SDA or SCL line. Similarly, if Ry and Ty are connected, Sy can function as either the SDA or SCL line. There are no restrictions on the interconnection of the Tx/Rx and Ty/Ry I/O pins to other P82B96s, for example in a star or multi-point configuration (multiple P82B96 devices share the same Tx/Rx and Ty/Ry nodes) with the Tx/Rx and Ty/Ry I/O pins on the common bus, and the Sx/Sy side connected to the line-card slave devices.
In any design, the Sx pins of different devices should never be linked, because the resulting system would be very susceptible to induced noise and would not support all I2C operating modes.
The I2C pins, Sx and Sy, are designed to interface directly with an I2C bus. The logic threshold-voltage levels on the I2C bus are independent of the supply VCC. The maximum I2C bus supply voltage is 15 V, and the specified static sink current is 3 mA.
Sx and Sy have two identical buffers. Each buffer is made up of two logic signal paths. The first one, named Tx or Ty, is a forward path from the I2C interface pin, which drives the buffered bus. The second one, named Rx or Ry, is a reverse signal path from the buffered bus input to drive the I2C bus interface.
There are two purposes for these paths: to sense the voltage state of the I2C pin (Sx or Sy) and transmit this state to Tx or Ty, respectively, and to detect the state of the Rx or Ry and pull the I2C pin low when Rx or Ry is low.
Tx and Ty are open-collector outputs without ESD protection diodes to VCC. Each pin may be connected through a pullup resistor to a supply voltage in excess of VCC, as long as the 15-V rating is not exceeded. Tx and Ty have a larger current-sinking capability than a standard I2C device and can sink a static current of greater than 30 mA. They also have dynamic pulldown capability of 100-mA, typically.
A logic low is transmitted to Tx or Ty only when the voltage at the I2C pin (Sx or Sy) is less than 0.6 V. A logic low at Rx or Ry causes the I2C bus (Sx or Sy) to be pulled to a logic low level in accordance with I2C requirements (maximum 1.5 V in 5-V applications), but not low enough to be looped back to the Tx or Ty output and cause the buffer to latch low.
The minimum low level that the P82B96 can achieve on the I2C bus by a low at Rx or Ry typically is 0.8 V.
If VCC fails, neither the I2C pins nor the Tx or Ty outputs are held low. Their open-collector configuration allows them to be pulled up to the rated maximum of 15 V without VCC present. The input configuration on Sx, Sy, Rx, and Ry also presents no loading of external signals when VCC is not present. This ensures that communication on the main I2C bus can continue if the P82B96 has no supply.
The effective input capacitance of any signal pin, measured by its effect on bus rise times, is less than 4 pF for all bus voltages and supply voltages, including VCC = 0 V.
The P82B96 supports 400 pF on the main I2C bus (Sx/Sy side) and up to 4000 pF on the transmission side (Tx/Ty). This allows for longer cables to be used due to the significant increase in capacitance allowed by the device.
The P82B96 begins functioning once VCC reaches 2 V. When VCC is low, the P82B96 does not hold the Sx/Sy pins low, which ensures I2C communication can continue between other devices on the bus while the VCC is low.