Inter－Integrated Circuit

Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) is a two-wire serial communication protocol developed by Philips Semiconductors (now NXP Semiconductors) in the 1980s. It is commonly used for communication between integrated circuits and peripherals in embedded systems.

The I2C protocol uses a master-slave architecture, where one master device initiates communication with one or more slave devices. The master device generates clock signals and initiates data transfers, while the slave devices respond to the master's commands.

The two wires used for communication are called the serial data line (SDA) and the serial clock line (SCL). The SDA line carries the data being transmitted, while the SCL line carries the clock signal that synchronizes the data transfer.

I2C supports multiple data transfer modes, including standard mode (100 kbit/s), fast mode (400 kbit/s), and high-speed mode (3.4 Mbit/s). It also supports multi-master communication, where multiple master devices can communicate with the same set of slave devices.

The I2C protocol is widely used in various applications, including sensors, LCD displays, EEPROMs, and other devices in embedded systems.