MIPI I3C v1.1 - A Conversation with Ken Foust

By _MIPI Alliance Blog

January 17, 2020

Q: What makes the newly released MIPI I3C® v1.1 different from v1.0, and why is it important to developers?

I see Version 1.0 as setting a new baseline. We came together to make an interface that would dramatically simplify the integration of sensors and address many of the key pain points that all of us in the industry were dealing with when working with I²C and SPI interfaces. We think we accomplished that with v1.0—anywhere sensors are used, MIPI I3C belongs. Now v1.1 is the first update to build on that foundation.

One of our original goals in launching development of MIPI I3C was to provide an upgrade path that would allow implementers to take advantage of I3C wherever I²C and SPI were being used. Those interfaces were developed a long time ago and have proliferated into several industries and several types of devices for many different use cases. Although v1.0 set the stage, there remained features needed to ensure MIPI I3C’s suitability for the very broad range of industries and use cases—such as memory management, server control and manageability, “always-on” imaging, debug communications, touchscreen and sensor device command, and power management. So, with MIPI I3C v1.1 we now have this scalable, medium-speed utility and control bus that can connect peripherals to an application processor in everything from smartphones and wearables, to high-performance servers, automotive applications and more. Some of these applications weren’t even originally envisioned when we started creating MIPI I3C. This ongoing move beyond mobile and sensing was our focus in the development of v1.1.

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