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I3C and I3C Basic

Frequently Asked Questions

Resources

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Introduction to MIPI I3C

 

Migration from Legacy I2C or Other Buses

 

I3C Versions and Releases

 

Up and Coming

 

Naming and Terminology

 

Implementation: Ecosystem

 

Implementation: As a System Designer

 

Implementation: As a Software Developer

 

Interoperability Workshops

 

Conformance Testing

 

Legal & Intellectual Property Related Questions

 

New Capabilities in I3C

 

Limits and Performance

 

Minimum Required Features

 

Backwards Compatibility with I2C

 

Address Assignment

 

In-Band Interrupt and Hot-Join

 

Common Command Codes (CCCs)

 

High Data Rate (HDR) Modes

 

I3C Advanced Capabilities

 

Electricals and Signaling

 

Bus Conditions and States

 

Resets and Error Handling

 

Timing Parameters

 

I3C Additional Information

Click here to view a PDF of all MIPI I3C FAQs.

Terminology

See also Section 2 in the MIPI I3C Specification [MIPI01] [MIPI09][MIPI11].

Definitions

Bus Available: I3C Bus condition in which a Device is able to initiate a transaction on the Bus.
Bus Free: I3C Bus condition after a STOP and before a START with a duration of at least tCAS.
Bus Idle: An extended duration of the Bus Free condition in which Devices may attempt to Hot-Join the I3C Bus.
Controller: The I3C Bus Device that is controlling the Bus. (I3C and I3C Basic versions prior to v1.1.1 used the deprecated term Master.)
High-Keeper: A weak Pull-Up type Device used when SDA, and sometimes SCL, is in High-Z with respect to all Devices.
Hot-Join: Targets that join the I3C Bus after it is already started, whether because they were not powered previously or because they were physically inserted into the Bus. The Hot-Join mechanism allows the Target to notify the Controller that it is ready to get a Dynamic Address.
In-Band Interrupt (IBI): A method whereby a Target Device emits its Address into the arbitrated Address header on the I3C Bus to notify the Controller of an interrupt.
Master: Deprecated term used in I3C and I3C Basic versions prior to v1.1.1. See Controller.
Target: An I3C Target Device can only respond to either Common or individual commands from a Controller. (I3C and I3C Basic versions prior to v1.1.1 used the deprecated term Slave.)
 

Abbreviations

ACK Short for “acknowledge” (an I3C Bus operation)
DisCo Discovery and Configuration (family of MIPI Alliance interface Specifications)
e.g. For example (Latin: exempli gratia)
i.e. That is (Latin: id est)
 

 Acronyms

See also the acronyms defined in the MIPI I3C Specification [MIPI01][MIPI09][MIPI11].

CCC Common Command Code (an I3C common command or its unique code number)
CTS Conformance Test Suite
DAA Dynamic Address Assignment (an I3C Bus operation)
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
HCI Host Controller Interface (a MIPI Alliance interface specification [MIPI02] [MIPI12])
HDR High Data Rate (a set of I3C Bus Modes)
HDR-BT HDR Bulk Transfer (an I3C Bus Mode)
HDR-DDR HDR Double Data Rate (an I3C Bus Mode)
HDR-TSL HDR Ternary Symbol Legacy (an I3C Bus Mode)
HDR-TSP HDR Ternary Symbol for Pure Bus (an I3C Bus Mode)
I3C Improved Inter Integrated Circuit (a MIPI Alliance interface Specification 
[MIPI01][MIPI09][MIPI11]
)
IBI In-Band Interrupt (an I3C Bus feature)
ML Multi-Lane (an I3C Bus feature, and set of Data Transfer Codings for I3C Bus Modes)
ODR Output Data Rate
SCL Serial Clock (an I3C Bus line)
SDA Serial Data (an I3C Bus line)
SDR Single Data Rate (an I3C Bus Mode)
SPI Serial Peripheral Interface (an interface specification)
 

References

[MIPI01] MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C® (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 23 December 2016 (Adopted 31 December 2016).
[MIPI02] MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C Host Controller Interface (I3C HCISM), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 29 September 2017 (Adopted 4 April 2018).
[MIPI03] MIPI Alliance Specification for Discovery and Configuration (DisCoSM), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 1 July 2016 (Adopted 28 December 2016).
[MIPI04]

MIPI Alliance DisCoSM Specification for I3CSM, version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 25 January 2019 (Adopted 18 June 2019).

[MIPI05] MIPI Alliance I3C Application Note: General Topics, App Note version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., In press.
[MIPI06]

MIPI Alliance Specification for Camera Serial Interface 2 (CSI-2SM), version 4.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 26 September 2021 (Adopted 8 December 2021).

[MIPI07] MIPI Alliance Specification for Debug for I3CSM, version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 21 April 2020 (Adopted 4 September 2020).
[MIPI08]

MIPI Alliance Conformance Test Suite (CTS) for I3CSM v1.1.1 and I3C Basic v1.1.1, CTS version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 4 August 2021 (approved 5 August 2021).

[MIPI09]

MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C BasicSM (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 19 July 2018 (Adopted 8 October 2018).

[MIPI10]

MIPI Alliance, Inc., “I3C SETBUSCON Table”, <https://www.mipi.org/MIPI_I3C_bus_context_byte_values_public.html>, last accessed 22 August 2022.

[MIPI11]

MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C® (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 27 November 2019 (Adopted 11 December 2019).

[MIPI12]

MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C Host Controller Interface (I3C HCISM), version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 20 May 2021 (Adopted 20 May 2021).

[MIPI13]

MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C® (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 11 June 2021 (Adopted 8 June 2021).

[MIPI14]

MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C BasicSM (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 9 June 2021 (Adopted 21 July2021).

Note: Version number v1.1 was not used for I3C Basic.
[MIPI15]

MIPI Alliance Specification for Debug for I3CSM, version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., In press.

[LINX01] Linux Kernel Patches for I3C subsystem, <https://patchwork.kernel.org/project/linux-i3c/list/>, last accessed 22 August 2022.