MIPI I3C is a serial communication interface specification that improves upon the features, performance, and power use of I²C, while maintaining backward compatibility for most devices. MIPI I3C Basic is technically identical to MIPI I3C, except with a reduced feature set and RAND-Z licensing (see "Legal and Intellectual Property Related Questions" Section 2.11).
Click here to view a PDF of all MIPI I3C FAQs.
Terminology
See also Section 2 in the MIPI I3C Specification [MIPI01][MIPI10][MIPI12].
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][MIPI10][MIPI12].
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] [MIPI13]) |
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][MIPI10][MIPI12]) |
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 System Integrators Application Note for I3C® v1.0 and I3C Basic SM v1.0, App Note version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 8 December 2018 (approved 8 December 2018). |
[MIPI06] | MIPI Alliance Specification for Camera Serial Interface 2 (CSI-2SM), version 4.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., In press. |
[MIPI07] | MIPI Alliance Specification for Debug for I3CSM, version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 21 April 2020 (Adopted 4 September 2020). |
[MIPI08] | MIPI Alliance Specification for Virtual GPIO Interface (VGISM), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., In press. |
[MIPI09] | 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). |
[MIPI10] | MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C BasicSM (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.0, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 19 July 2018 (Adopted 8 October 2018). |
[MIPI11] | MIPI Alliance, Inc., “I3C SETBUSCON Table”, https://www.mipi.org/MIPI_I3C_bus_context_byte_values_public.html, last accessed 4 September 2021. |
[MIPI12] | MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C® (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 27 November 2019 (Adopted 11 December 2019). |
[MIPI13] | MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C Host Controller Interface (I3C HCISM), version 1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 20 May 2021 (Adopted 20 May 2021). |
[MIPI14] | MIPI Alliance Specification for I3C® (Improved Inter Integrated Circuit), version 1.1.1, MIPI Alliance, Inc., 11 June 2021 (Adopted 8 June 2021). |
[MIPI15] | 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. |
[MIPI16] | 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 4 September 2021 |