
NXP Semiconductors
PCA9532
16-bit I 2 C-bus LED dimmer
7. Characteristics of the I 2 C-bus
The I 2 C-bus is for 2-way, 2-line communication between different ICs or modules. The two
lines are a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCL). Both lines must be
connected to a positive supply via a pull-up resistor when connected to the output stages
of a device. Data transfer may be initiated only when the bus is not busy.
7.1 Bit transfer
One data bit is transferred during each clock pulse. The data on the SDA line must remain
stable during the HIGH period of the clock pulse as changes in the data line at this time
will be interpreted as control signals (see Figure 7 ).
SDA
SCL
data line
stable;
change
of data
Fig 7.
Bit transfer
data valid
allowed
mba607
7.1.1 START and STOP conditions
Both data and clock lines remain HIGH when the bus is not busy. A HIGH-to-LOW
transition of the data line while the clock is HIGH is de?ned as the START condition (S).
A LOW-to-HIGH transition of the data line while the clock is HIGH is de?ned as the STOP
condition (P) (see Figure 8 ).
SDA
SCL
S
START condition
P
STOP condition
mba608
Fig 8.
De?nition of START and STOP conditions
7.2 System con?guration
A device generating a message is a ‘transmitter’; a device receiving is the ‘receiver’. The
device that controls the message is the ‘master’ and the devices which are controlled by
the master are the ‘slaves’ (see Figure 9 ).
PCA9532_4
? NXP B.V. 2009. All rights reserved.
Product data sheet
Rev. 04 — 17 March 2009
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