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App note: Implementing an I2C reset

App note: Implementing an I2C reset

Interesting app note from Analog Devices when an I2C communication is broken under some circumstances. Link here (PDF)

The I2C bus is a high integrity, robust serial bus used for control purposes in many systems. The primary components that make up a system are at least one master and one slave. Under normal conditions, everything works fine; however, it is the abnormal conditions that generate problems. Two questions present themselves when a problem arises: Is the problem device or system related, or some combination of both? What, if anything, can be done about it?



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Hard device failures are relatively easy to isolate. Perhaps a function does not work, proper power cycling does not resolve the issue, pins are stuck high or low, and so on. System related problems sometimes disguise themselves as device failures, or worse, are intermittent. It is the latter area that this application note examines because it represents the majority of bus fault conditions.

Frequently the master, which is usually a microcontroller or a gate array, will be interrupted in the middle of its communication with an I2C slave and, upon return, find a stuck bus. Initially this looks like a device problem, but it is not. The slave is still waiting to send the remainder of the data requested by the master. The problem is that the master has forgotten where it was when it was interrupted or reset.

 


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