MIPI DisCo™ for I3C®

• Fundamental Features

  • Available to non-members of MIPI Alliance and the open source community
  • Based on Advance Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification
  • Common specification for conveying properties of I3C-conformant devices to operating systems

• Current Version

  MIPI DisCo℠ for I3C® v1.1 (February 2023)
  Member version  | Public version

• Previous Versions

  MIPI DisCo for I3C v1.0 (June 2019)
  Member version  | Request public version

• Related Specifications

  MIPI I3C® and MIPI I3C Basic℠

General Info

• Overview

  MIPI DisCo℠ for I3C® is designed to simplify software integration of sensors and other peripherals that use the MIPI I3C^® device interface. It is based on the MIPI Discovery and Configuration (MIPI DisCo^SM) Base Specification, a software framework that allows major operating systems to identify MIPI-conformant external devices in mobile and mobile-influenced systems and automatically implement drivers for them.

  Using MIPI DisCo for I3C, makers of I3C-conformant sensors can convey the properties of their devices in a common form that will be recognized by most major OSs, including Android, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows and Linux. When these vendors have included the DisCo for I3C collateral, system integrators can integrate sensor devices with little or no additional driver development. This allows system manufacturers to roll out products more quickly and at lower cost.

  Version 1.1 includes updates for inclusive terminology, and also includes clarifications based on the most recent versions of the I3C and I3C HCI specifications. Additionally, this version adds new descriptors that can better describe the methods of Dynamic Address Assignment that Targets will support, expose the highest data transfer rate that the I3C bus can support, and identify Virtual Targets (i.e., a composite I3C device that presents as multiple Targets on the bus).

• What is MIPI I3C?

  MIPI I3C is a high-performance, low-power, two-wire interface for connecting a wide range of sensor devices to application processors. It incorporates characteristics of older I²C and SPI interfaces while offering higher performance and a unified solution for most types of sensors, including mechanical, motion, biometric and environmental.

• Implementation

  MIPI DisCo for I3C lets system manufacturers avoid the proliferation of system- and OS-specific drivers that has made integration of I²C-based devices expensive and time-consuming. The specification is compatible with both the MIPI I3C v1.0 and the feature-limited MIPI I3C Basic v1.0, which is available under royalty-free terms. Combined with the MIPI I3C HCI^SM (Host Controller Interface) specification, DisCo for I3C significantly streamlines the process of implementing a complete I3C subsystem.

• Diagrams & Tables

  Click to Enlarge