34.6.3.5 32-Bit Extension
For better system bus utilization, 32-bit data receive and transmit can be enabled by writing to the Data 32-bit bit field in the Control C register (CTRLC.DATA32B = 1). When enabled, write and read transactions to/from the DATA register are 32 bits in size.
If frames are not multiples of 4 bytes, the Length Counter (LENGTH.LEN) and Length Enable (LENGTH.LENEN) must be configured before data transfer begins. LENGTH.LEN must be enabled only when CTRLC.DATA32B is enabled.
The following figure illustrates the order of transmit and receive when using 32-bit mode. Bytes are transmitted or received and stored in order from 0-3.
32-Bit Extension Client Operation
The following figure illustrates a transaction with 32-bit Extension enabled (CTRLC.DATA32B = 1). In client operation, the Address Match interrupt in the Interrupt Flag Status and Clear register (INTFLAG.AMATCH) is set after the address is received and available in the DATA register. The Data Ready interrupt (INTFLAG.DRDY) will, then, be raised for every 4 bytes transferred.
The LENGTH register can be written before the frame begins or when the AMATCH interrupt is set. If the frame size is not LENGTH.LEN bytes, the Length Error status bit (STATUS.LENERR) is raised. If LENGTH.LEN is not a multiple of 4 bytes, the final INTFLAG.DRDY interrupt is raised when the last byte is received for host reads. For host writes, the last data byte is automatically NACKed. On address recognition, the internal length counter is reset in preparation for the incoming frame.
When SCL clock stretch mode is selected (CTRLA.SCLSM = 1) and the transaction is a host write, the selected Acknowledge Action (CTRLB.ACKACT) will only be used to ACK/NACK each 4th byte. All other bytes are ACKed. This allows the user to write CTRLB.ACKACT = 1 in the final interrupt, so that the last byte in a 32-bit word is NACKed.
Writing to the LENGTH register while a frame is in progress produces unpredictable results. If LENGTH.LENEN is not set and a frame is not a multiple of 4 bytes, the remainder is lost.
32-Bit Extension Host Operation
When using the I2C configured as host, the Address register must be written with the desired address (ADDR.ADDR) and, optionally, the transaction Length and transaction Length Enable bits (ADDR.LEN and ADDR.LENEN) can be written. When ADDR.LENEN is written to ‘1’ along with ADDR.ADDR, ADDR.LEN determines the number of data bytes in the transaction from 0 to 255. Then, the ADDR.LEN bytes are transferred, followed by an automatically generated NACK (for host reads) and a STOP.
The INTFLAG.SB or INTFLAG.MB are raised for every 4 bytes transferred. If the transaction is a host read and ADDR.LEN is not a multiple of 4 bytes, the final INTFLAG.SB is set when the last byte is received.
When the SCL Clock Stretch mode is enabled (CTRLA.SCLSM = 1) and the transaction is a host read, the selected Acknowledge Action (CTRLB.ACKACT) is used to ACK/NACK each 4th byte. All other bytes are ACKed. This allows the user to set CTRLB.ACKACT = 1 in the final interrupt, so that the last byte in a 32-bit word is NACKed.
If a NACK is received by the client for a host write transaction before ADDR.LEN bytes, a STOP is automatically generated and the length error (STATUS.LENERR) is raised along with the INTFLAG.ERROR interrupt.