I2C Controller IP – Master / Slave, Parameterized FIFO, Hs-Mode (3.4 Mbps) AXI/AHB/APB/Avalon Buses

The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode Controller IP Core interfaces a microprocessor via the AMBA AXI / AHB / APB Bus or Avalon Bus to an I2C Bus in Hs-Mode (3.4 Mbit/s) / Fast-Mode Plus (1 Mbit/s) / Fast-Mode (400 Kbit/s) / Standard-Mode (100 Kbit/s). The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode Controller IP Core can also interface a set of Registers within an ASIC / ASSP / FPGA device as well as interface Memory (e.g. SDRAM / SRAM / FLASH) to an I2C Bus.

The I2C is a two-wire bidirectional interface standard (SCL is Clock, SDA is Data) for transfer of bytes of information between two or more compliant I2C devices, typically with a microprocessor behind the master controller and one or more slave devices.

The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode is a Master / Slave I2C Controller that in Master Mode controls the Transmit or Receive of data to or from slave I2C devices while in Slave Mode allows an external I2C Master device to control the Transmit or Receive of data.

In an ASIC / ASSP / FPGA integrated circuit, typically, the microprocessor is an ARM processor, but can be any embedded processor. Figure 1 depicts the system view of the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode Controller IP Core embedded within an integrated circuit device with its Microprocessor Configuration.

The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode Controller IP Core targets embedded processor applications with higher performance algorithm requirements or I2C transfer requirements to a set of Registers or Memory. While most I2C controllers require high processor interaction involvement, the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode contains a parameterized FIFO and Finite State Machine Control for the processor to off-load the I2C transfer to the DB-I2C-MS-Hs Mode Controller. Thus, while the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode in Master Mode is busy, independently controlling the I2C Transmit or Receive transaction of data, or in Slave Mode, allowing the external I2C Master device to control the Transmit or Receive of data, the processor can complete other tasks. All Master & Slave Mode Transmit / Receive transfers are with respect to the internal FIFO, thus fully isolating the processor from the I2C transfer of a block of data.

• Master / Slave I2C Controller Modes:
  • Master – Transmitter
  • Master – Receiver
  • Slave – Transmitter
  • Slave – Receiver
• Supports four I2C bus speeds:
  • Hs-Mode (3.4+ Mb/s)
  • Fast Mode Plus (1 Mbit/s)
  • Fast Mode (400 Kb/s)
  • Standard Mode (100 Kb/s)
• Parameterized FIFO memory for off-loading the I2C transfers from the processor:
  • Targets embedded processors with higher performance algorithm requirements, by the I2C Controller independently controlling theTransmit or Receive of bytes of information buffered to and from a FIFO.
• Enhanced system-level features & integration capabilities:
  • CPU Interface via parameterized FIFO with support for APB / AHB / AXI / AXI-lite / Avalon / Qsys interconnect fabrics
  • Enhanced SCL / SDA spike filtering capabilities
  • Enhanced Repeated Start capabilities
• Enhanced system-level features & integration capabilities (Optional):
  • DMA transfer between the I2C Bus & Memory (SDRAM / SRAM / FLASH)
  • Direct interface to user Registers within ASIC / ASSP / FPGA device, for Master/Slave transfer across the I2C Bus
  • Remote Configuration of a Digital Blocks’ I2C Slave by an I2C Master
• I2C compliant features:
  • Multi-Master, Clock Synchronization, Arbitration, SCL held low by Slave, Repeated Start, 7/10-bit addressing, & General Call Addressing, Hs-Mode
• 13 sources of internal interrupts with masking control
• Compliance with AMBA or Avalon and I2C specifications:
  • Compliance with AMBA AXI / AHB/ APB Protocol Specifications
  • Compliance with Avalon Protocol Specifications
  • Philips/NXP – The I2C-Bus Specification, Version 2.1, January 2000 and UM10204 Rev 7 – 1 Oct 2021
• Fully-synchronous, synthesizable Verilog RTL core, with rising-edge clocking, no gated clocks, and no internal tri-states, for easy integration into FPGA or ASICdesign flows.

• The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode Controller IP Core targets embedded processor applications with high performance algorithm requirements. While most I2C controllers require high processor interaction involvement, the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode contains a parameterized FIFO and Finite State Machine Control for the processor to off-load the I2C transfer to the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-ModeI Controller. Thus, while the DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode is busy, independently controlling the I2C Transmit or Receive transaction of data, the processor can go off and complete other tasks. The DB-I2C-MS-Hs-Mode transfers data on the I2C Bus at speeds up to the Hs-Mode of 3.4 Mbps.
• Digital Blocks offers Hs-Mode Master/Slave, Master only, and Slave only IP with AXI / AHB / APB / Avalon / Qsys Interfaces. In addition, besides interfacing to a CPU, the I2C Controllers can transfer blocks of data directly between System Memory or Registers and the I2C Bus.

• Verilog or VHDL RTL Source or technology-specific netlist.
• Comprehensive testbench suite with expected results.
• Synthesis scripts.
• Installation & Implementation Guide.
• Technical Reference Manual.