Intel® Arria® 10 Hard Processor System Technical Reference Manual

ID 683711
Date 8/28/2023
Public
Document Table of Contents

21.4.3.4. START BYTE Transfer Protocol

The START BYTE transfer protocol is set up for systems that do not have an on-board dedicated I2C hardware module. When the I2C controller is set as a slave, it always samples the I2C bus at the highest speed supported so that it never requires a START BYTE transfer. However, when I2C controller is set as a master, it supports the generation of START BYTE transfers at the beginning of every transfer in case a slave device requires it. This protocol consists of seven zeros being transmitted followed by a 1, as illustrated in the following figure. This allows the processor that is polling the bus to under-sample the address phase until the microcontroller detects a 0. Once the microcontroller detects a 0, it switches from the under sampling rate to the correct rate of the master. †

Figure 131. START BYTE Transfer †

The START BYTE has the following procedure: †

  1. Master generates a START condition. †
  2. Master transmits the START byte (0000 0001). †
  3. Master transmits the ACK clock pulse. (Present only to conform with the byte handling format used on the bus) †
  4. No slave sets the ACK signal to 0. †
  5. Master generates a RESTART (R) condition. †

A hardware receiver does not respond to the START BYTE because it is a reserved address and resets after the RESTART condition is generated. †