C8051F99X_10 Datasheet, PDF (235/322 Pages) Silicon Laboratories – Ultra Low Power, 8-2 kB Flash, Capacitive Sensing MCU

C8051F99x-C8051F98x
22.3. SMBus Operation
Two types of data transfers are possible: data transfers from a master transmitter to an addressed slave
receiver (WRITE), and data transfers from an addressed slave transmitter to a master receiver (READ).
The master device initiates both types of data transfers and provides the serial clock pulses on SCL. The
SMBus interface may operate as a master or a slave, and multiple master devices on the same bus are
supported. If two or more masters attempt to initiate a data transfer simultaneously, an arbitration scheme
is employed with a single master always winning the arbitration. Note that it is not necessary to specify one
device as the Master in a system; any device who transmits a START and a slave address becomes the
master for the duration of that transfer.
A typical SMBus transaction consists of a START condition followed by an address byte (Bits7–1: 7-bit
slave address; Bit0: R/W direction bit), one or more bytes of data, and a STOP condition. Bytes that are
received (by a master or slave) are acknowledged (ACK) with a low SDA during a high SCL (see
Figure 22.3). If the receiving device does not ACK, the transmitting device will read a NACK (not acknowl-
edge), which is a high SDA during a high SCL.
The direction bit (R/W) occupies the least-significant bit position of the address byte. The direction bit is set
to logic 1 to indicate a "READ" operation and cleared to logic 0 to indicate a "WRITE" operation.
All transactions are initiated by a master, with one or more addressed slave devices as the target. The
master generates the START condition and then transmits the slave address and direction bit. If the trans-
action is a WRITE operation from the master to the slave, the master transmits the data a byte at a time
waiting for an ACK from the slave at the end of each byte. For READ operations, the slave transmits the
data waiting for an ACK from the master at the end of each byte. At the end of the data transfer, the master
generates a STOP condition to terminate the transaction and free the bus. Figure 22.3 illustrates a typical
SMBus transaction.
SCL
SDA
SLA6
SLA5-0
R/W
D7
D6-0
START
Slave Address + R/W
ACK
Data Byte
Figure 22.3. SMBus Transaction
NACK
STOP
22.3.1. Transmitter vs. Receiver
On the SMBus communications interface, a device is the “transmitter” when it is sending an address or
data byte to another device on the bus. A device is a “receiver” when an address or data byte is being sent
to it from another device on the bus. The transmitter controls the SDA line during the address or data byte.
After each byte of address or data information is sent by the transmitter, the receiver sends an ACK or
NACK bit during the ACK phase of the transfer, during which time the receiver controls the SDA line.
22.3.2. Arbitration
A master may start a transfer only if the bus is free. The bus is free after a STOP condition or after the SCL
and SDA lines remain high for a specified time (see Section “22.3.5. SCL High (SMBus Free) Timeout” on
page 236). In the event that two or more devices attempt to begin a transfer at the same time, an arbitra-
tion scheme is employed to force one master to give up the bus. The master devices continue transmitting
until one attempts a HIGH while the other transmits a LOW. Since the bus is open-drain, the bus will be
pulled LOW. The master attempting the HIGH will detect a LOW SDA and lose the arbitration. The winning
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