8.5.1.4 I²C Data Transfer Protocol

Figure 11 shows the format of the data transfer. The master initiates all transactions with the TLA202x by generating a START (S) condition. A high-to-low transition on the SDA line while SCL is high defines a START condition. The bus is considered to be busy after the START condition.

Following the START condition, the master sends the 7-bit slave address corresponding to the address of the TLA202x that the master wants to communicate with. The master then sends an eighth bit that is a data direction bit (R/W). An R/W bit of 0 indicates a write operation, and an R/W bit of 1 indicates a read operation. After the R/W bit, the master generates a ninth SCLK pulse and releases the SDA line to allow the TLA202x to acknowledge (ACK) the reception of the slave address by pulling SDA low. In case the device does not recognize the slave address, the TLA202x holds SDA high to indicate a not acknowledge (NACK) signal.

Next follows the data transmission. If the transaction is a read (R/W = 1), the TLA202x outputs data on SDA. If the transaction is a write (R/W = 0), the host outputs data on SDA. Data are transferred byte-wise, most significant bit (MSB) first. The number of bytes that can be transmitted per transfer is unrestricted. Each byte must be acknowledged (via the ACK bit) by the receiver. If the transaction is a read, the master issues the ACK. If the transaction is a write, the TLA202x issues the ACK.

The master terminates all transactions by generating a STOP (P) condition. A low-to-high transition on the SDA line while SCL is high defines a STOP condition. The bus is considered free again t_BUF (bus-free time) after the STOP condition.

Figure 11. I²C Data Transfer Format