SBAA565 November   2022 ADC081C021 , ADC081C027 , ADC101C021 , ADC101C027 , ADC121C021 , ADC121C021-Q1 , ADC121C027 , ADC128D818 , ADS1000 , ADS1000-Q1 , ADS1013 , ADS1014 , ADS1015 , ADS1015-Q1 , ADS1100 , ADS1110 , ADS1112 , ADS1113 , ADS1114 , ADS1115 , ADS1115-Q1 , ADS7823 , ADS7827 , ADS7828 , ADS7828-Q1 , ADS7830 , ADS7924 , AFE539A4 , DAC081C081 , DAC081C085 , DAC101C081 , DAC101C081Q , DAC101C085 , DAC121C081 , DAC121C085 , DAC43204 , DAC43401 , DAC43401-Q1 , DAC43608 , DAC43701 , DAC43701-Q1 , DAC53002 , DAC53004 , DAC53202 , DAC53204 , DAC53204W , DAC53401 , DAC53401-Q1 , DAC53608 , DAC53701 , DAC53701-Q1 , DAC5571 , DAC5573 , DAC5574 , DAC5578 , DAC60501 , DAC60502 , DAC63002 , DAC63004 , DAC63202 , DAC63204 , DAC6571 , DAC6573 , DAC6574 , DAC6578 , DAC70501 , DAC70502 , DAC7571 , DAC7573 , DAC7574 , DAC7578 , DAC7678 , DAC80501 , DAC80502 , DAC8571 , DAC8574

 

  1.   Abstract
  2.   Trademarks
  3. 1I2C Overview
    1. 1.1 History
    2. 1.2 I2C Speed Modes
  4. 2I2C Physical Layer
    1. 2.1 Two-Wire Communication
    2. 2.2 Open-Drain Connection
    3. 2.3 Non-Destructive Bus Contention
  5. 3I2C Protocol
    1. 3.1 I2C START and STOP
    2. 3.2 Logical Ones and Zeros
    3. 3.3 I2C Communication Frames
  6. 4I2C Examples
    1. 4.1 DAC80501 Example
      1. 4.1.1 DAC80501 DAC Data Register
      2. 4.1.2 DAC80501 I2C Example Write
    2. 4.2 ADS1115 Example
      1. 4.2.1 ADS1115 Configuration Register
      2. 4.2.2 ADS1115 I2C Example Read
      3. 4.2.3 ADS1115 Conversion Result
  7. 5Reserved Addresses
    1. 5.1 General Call
    2. 5.2 START Byte
    3. 5.3 C-Bus Address, Different Bus Format, Future Purposes
    4. 5.4 HS-Mode Controller Code
    5. 5.5 Device ID
    6. 5.6 10-Bit Target Addressing
      1. 5.6.1 10-Bit Target Addressing Write
      2. 5.6.2 10-Bit Target Addressing Read
  8. 6Advanced Topics
    1. 6.1 Clock Synchronization and Arbitration
    2. 6.2 Clock Stretching
    3. 6.3 Electrical Specifications
    4. 6.4 Voltage Level Translation
      1. 6.4.1 Example 1
      2. 6.4.2 Example 2
      3. 6.4.3 Example 3
      4. 6.4.4 Example 4
    5. 6.5 Pullup Resistor Sizing
      1. 6.5.1 Minimum Pullup Resistance Sizing
      2. 6.5.2 Maximum Pullup Resistance Sizing
  9. 7Protocols Similar to I2C
  10. 8Summary

5.2 START Byte

A read from I2C address 00 is the START byte. Not all microprocessors have a built-in, onboard I2C controller and do not necessarily have an interrupt to detect communication on the bus. In that case, a microprocessor monitoring the I2C bus must repeatedly poll the SDA and SCL lines to make sure communications are not missed. This requires the device to poll at a fast rate to detect the I2C address.

One option can be to use a START byte before the communication. When the controller uses the START byte with 7 zeros in the address, the target device can poll at a much slower rate, saving processing power.

After the target device detects that the SDA sent a zero during the START byte, the device can then switch to faster polling to detect the next I2C transmission for the address being sent. Once the I2C transfer has ended with a STOP condition, the target device can then resume polling at a slower rate, again saving processing power.