eUSCI_B Operation – I
2
C Mode
973
SLAU356I – March 2015 – Revised June 2019
Copyright © 2015–2019, Texas Instruments Incorporated
Enhanced Universal Serial Communication Interface (eUSCI) – I
2
C Mode
•
eUSCI_B is acting as master and another master drives SCL low during arbitration.
The UCSCLLOW bit is also active if the eUSCI_B holds SCL low because it is waiting as transmitter for
data being written into UCBxTXBUF or as receiver for the data being read from UCBxRXBUF. The
UCSCLLOW bit might be set for a short time with each rising SCL edge because the logic observes the
external SCL and compares it to the internally generated SCL.
26.3.6.2 Avoiding Clock Stretching
Even though clock stretching is part of the I2C specification, there are applications in which clock
stretching should be avoided.
The clock is stretched by the eUSCI_B under the following conditions:
•
The internal shift register is expecting data, but the TXIFG is still pending
•
The internal shift register is full, but the RXIFG is still pending
•
The arbitration lost interrupt is pending
•
UCSWACK is selected and UCBxI2COA0 did cause a match
To avoid clock stretching, all of these situations for clock stretch either need to be avoided or the
corresponding interrupt flags need to be processed before the actual clock stretch can occur.
Using the DMA (on devices that contain a DMA) is the most secure way to avoid clock stretching. If no
DMA is available, the software must ensure that the corresponding interrupts are serviced in time before
the clock is stretched.
In slave transmitter mode, the TXIFG is set only after the reception of the direction bit; therefore, there is
only a short amount of time for the software to write the TXBUF before a clock stretch occurs. This
situation can be remedied by using the early Transmit Interrupt (see
).
26.3.6.3 Clock Low Time-out
The UCCLTOIFG interrupt allows the software to react if the clock is low longer than a defined time. It is
possible to detect the situation, when a clock is stretched by a master or slave for a too long time. The
user can then, for example, reset the eUSCI_B module by using the UCSWRST bit.
The clock low time-out feature is enabled using the UCCLTO bits. It is possible to select one of three
predefined times for the clock low time-out. If the clock has been low longer than the time defined with the
UCCLTO bits and the eUSCI_B was actively receiving or transmitting, the UCCLTOIFG is set and an
interrupt request is generated if UCCLTOIE is set as well. The UCCLTOIFG is set only once, even if the
clock is stretched a multiple of the time defined in UCCLTO.
26.3.7 Byte Counter
The eUSCI_B module supports hardware counting of the bytes received or transmitted. The counter is
automatically active and counts up for each byte seen on the bus in both master and slave mode.
The byte counter is incremented at the second bit position of each byte independently of the following
ACK or NACK. A START or RESTART condition resets the counter value to zero. Address bytes do not
increment the counter. The byte counter is also incremented at the second bit position, if an arbitration
loss occurs during the first bit of data.
26.3.7.1 Byte Counter Interrupt
If UCASTPx = 01 or 10 the UCBCNTIFG is set when the byte counter threshold value UCBxTBCNT is
reached in both master- and slave-mode. Writing zero to UCBxTBCNT does not generate an interrupt.
Because the UCBCNTIFG has a lower interrupt priority than the UCBTXIFG and UCBRXIFG, TI
recommends using it only for protocol control together with the DMA handling the received and transmitted
bytes. Otherwise, the application must have enough processor bandwidth to ensure that the UCBCNT
interrupt routine is executed in time to generate, for example, a RESTART.