36.6.2.5 I²C Client Operation

Receiving Address Packets

When a start condition is detected, the successive address packet will be received and checked by the address match logic. If the received address is not a match, the packet will be rejected, and the I²C Client will wait for a new start condition. If the received address is a match, the Address Match bit in the Interrupt Flag register (INTFLAG.AMATCH) will be set.

SCL will be stretched until the I²C Client clears INTFLAG.AMATCH. As the I²C Client holds the clock by forcing SCL low, the software has unlimited time to respond.

The direction of a transaction is determined by reading the Read / Write Direction bit in the Status register (STATUS.DIR). This bit will be updated only when a valid address packet is received.

If the Transmit Collision bit in the Status register (STATUS.COLL) is set, this indicates that the last packet addressed to the I²C Client had a packet collision. A collision causes the SDA and SCL lines to be released without any notification to software. Therefore, the next AMATCH interrupt is the first indication of the previous packet’s collision. Collisions are intended to follow the SMBus Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).

After the address packet has been received from the I²C Host, one of two cases will arise based on transfer direction.

Case 1: Address packet accepted – Read flag set

The STATUS.DIR bit is ‘1’, indicating an I²C Host read operation. The SCL line is forced low, stretching the bus clock. If an ACK is sent, I²C Client hardware will set the Data Ready bit in the Interrupt Flag register (INTFLAG.DRDY), indicating data are needed for transmit. If a NACK is sent, the I²C Client will wait for a new start condition and address match.

Typically, software will immediately acknowledge the address packet by sending an ACK/NACK bit. The I²C Client Command bit field in the Control B register (CTRLB.CMD) can be written to '0x3' for both read and write operations as the command execution is dependent on the STATUS.DIR bit. Writing ‘1’ to INTFLAG.AMATCH will also cause an ACK/NACK to be sent corresponding to the CTRLB.ACKACT bit.

Case 2: Address packet accepted – Write flag set

The STATUS.DIR bit is cleared, indicating an I²C Host write operation. The SCL line is forced low, stretching the bus clock. If an ACK is sent, the I²C Client will wait for data to be received. Data, repeated start or stop can be received.

If a NACK is sent, the I²C Client will wait for a new start condition and address match. Typically, software will immediately acknowledge the address packet by sending an ACK/NACK. The I²C Client command CTRLB.CMD = 3 can be used for both read and write operation as the command execution is dependent on STATUS.DIR.

Writing ‘1’ to INTFLAG.AMATCH will also cause an ACK/NACK to be sent corresponding to the CTRLB.ACKACT bit.

Receiving and Transmitting Data Packets

After the I²C Client has received an address packet, it will respond according to the direction either by waiting for the data packet to be received or by starting to send a data packet by writing to DATA.DATA. When a data packet is received or sent, INTFLAG.DRDY will be set. After receiving data, the I²C Client will send an acknowledge according to CTRLB.ACKACT.

Case 1: Data received

INTFLAG.DRDY is set, and SCL is held low, pending for SW interaction.

Case 2: Data sent

When a byte transmission is successfully completed, the INTFLAG.DRDY interrupt flag is set. If NACK is received, indicated by STATUS.RXNACK=1, the I²C Client must expect a stop or a repeated start to be received. The I²C Client must release the data line to allow the I²C Host to generate a stop or repeated start. Upon detecting a stop condition, the Stop Received bit in the Interrupt Flag register (INTFLAG.PREC) will be set and the I²C Client will return to IDLE state.