The Inter IC bus or I2C bus is a simple bidirectional two wire bus designed primarily for general control

and data transfer communication between ICs.

Some of the features of the I2C bus are:

• Two signal lines, a serial data line (SDA) and a serial clock line (SCL), and ground are required. A

12V supply line (500mA max.) for powering the peripherals often may be present.

• Each device connected to the bus is software addressable by a unique address and simple

master/ slave relationships exist at all times masters can operate as master-transmitters or as

master-receivers.

• The I2C bus is a true multi-master bus including collision detection and arbitration to prevent data

corruption if two or more masters simultaneously initiate data transfer systems.

• Serial, 8-bit oriented, bidirectional data transfers can be made at up to 100 KBit/s in the standard

mode or up to 400 KBit/s in the fast mode.