23.5.4.3 Detecting the Address

Once the I²C has been enabled, the client waits for a Start condition to occur. After a Start, depending on the A10M bit (I2CxCON1[10]), the client attempts to detect a 7-bit or 10-bit address. The client compares one received byte for a 7-bit address or two received bytes for a 10-bit address. A 7-bit address also contains a R/W status bit that specifies the direction of the data transfer after the address. If R/W = 0, a write is specified and the client receives data from the host. If R/W = 1, a read is specified and the client sends data to the host. The 10-bit address contains a R/W status bit; however, by definition, it is always R/W = 0 because the client must receive the second byte of the 10-bit address.